oh-la-la

Aves has a new hair do.  

Meaning we can actually see her eyes.  Too cute!

So it's really too bad this little hair barrette is totally a choking hazard.  Despite the fact it holds really well, supervision is required.  How long does this bang-growing-phase last anyway?!

our day

Today started at five-thirty this morning. 

(not funny Avery.  not funny!)

It has included some coffee, reading Miss. Rumphius, the dentist, 

puzzles, coffee again and this...

Silly girl.

Sticking her tongue out all-the-time these days.

An update to our day: Avery started to climb the stairs, with Jake's encouragement.  And she was beaming about it!  Totally thrilled with herself .  Billy and I couldn't be more pleased that we both witnessed her reaction (we are less thrilled about the actual climbing part). 

weekend trip

We drove down to Kamloops to spend the weekend with my parents.   We left in the evening once Billy finished work and Jake could hardly wait.  He was dying go all day.  By the time three o'clock rolled by he was begging me to let him wait in the car.  There were a few tears on the two hour drive but the kids did alright.   

Some of the highlights included ice fishing.  No fish were caught but Jake ran around the ice saying "what a great day!" 

Homemade waffles for breakfast made by Jake and my dad.  So good.  

We helped them pack-up for their move, watched curling and had "sleep-overs" with the kids -- me with Avery and Bill with Jake.  Obviously Jake was thrilled about this.    

This will be our last Kamloops visit and I'll miss there.   

sewing project

When we were away, I brainstormed all of these things I was going to do with my sewing machine upon our return.  Fast forward ten months and I haven't done a single thing.  How lazy of me!  My only sliver of an excuse is that it's a complete pain to take the kids into the one-and-only fabric store here, as it's not stroller friendly.  At all.  

So I finally got organized and made a little tag blanket.   Considering I haven't made anything for ages, I thought it best to start small.  And the printed fabric is from my Grandma which I love.  

The funny part is that Avery loves all the tags on any stuffed animal she gets her little hands on, but she's not that impressed with these tags.  We'll see if it grows on her. 

blue sky

If I had to describe winters here in just one word, it would be grey.  Lots and lots of grey days, so when we saw blue sky on Friday we had to make hay.  It was a good reminder that we live in a really pretty place.  

Aves and Hailey were along too.  

celebrating eight months

 Happy belated eight months to our sweet little Avery.

(And happy Valentine's day to everyone else!)

This post slipped my mind because it doesn't feel possible that an entire month has passed since I did the last one.  Goes to show how quickly time passes.  And in what felt like a mere week or two, Avery changed so very much.  Last month I wrote: "seven months was going to be busy and fun", and it sure was.

Avery started sitting AND crawling AND pulling herself up 

on the first stair -- making seven months even busier than I could have imagined.   She isn't content to sit in her swing or jumper any more.  She has to be crawling.  Moving at all times and it's crazy hard to get dinner made some nights.  

Hard to believe that this was Avery eight months ago...

Fitting in the palm of my hand with that dark, inky, brown hair.  

And if your interested, here's some more...

She's quiet but has mastered her da, da, da's; ga, ga, ga's; ma, ma, ma's and na, na, na's. (So fun to hear because Jake pretty much skipped the entire babble stage).  

At this stage, her naps are near perfect.  She's taking two 2

1/2 hour naps and a third hour long cat-nap in the late afternoon, which we are trying to phasing out.

Her nights are better.  Finally.  Some nights she wakes and just needs a soother and some reassurance that she's not all alone; while other she's sleeping the whole night through.  Yay!

She still hasn't any teeth, so I'm sure once that starts we will be back into some sleepless nights.

She started bathing in the big tub with Jake and loves to splash.

And, just got the hang of feeding herself finger foods (which took surprisingly long, since everything else she grabs - toys, books, bib, etc... - go straight into her mouth).  

pause

We took a little day trip to visit my grandma.  She always spoils us with a really yummy lunch (her homemade soups are to-die-for) and we enjoy catching-up.  Grandma always has a jar filled with Smarties and as a kid, after hello hugs, we would immediately be into the Smarites.  Now Jake knows the drill and checked the jar within minutes of arriving.  

Avery was feeling weary.  She knew she was somewhere new and was uneasy about it.  She skipped her nap and only wanted to he held by me.  And then something happened that made me as happy as can be... she fell asleep in my arms.  So sweet and cosy.  This never happens any more - not since she was tiny and new.

It felt like hitting the pause button.  Just ever so briefly.  Slowing time just a smidgen because sometimes my heart misses a beat when I think of how fast these kids are growing.

unruly

Cute, fluffy, unruly hair.

The result of two (possibly more) wild cow-licks.

These backlit pictures really show how her hair looks daily.  So funny.  

lately

 This is long overdue...

Read Lullabies for Little Criminals and American Wife over Christmas.  Both so good.

Aunty Brenda took us all out to the energy plex (Pictures ten and twelve) and Jake had the most fun, ever.  So much climbing, bouncing and jumping -- he's still talking about it.

We cannot keep-up with Avery these days!  She has been crawling and crawling and crawling...  perpetual motion with no signs of slowing down.    

 These videos have me thinking Amy Poehler is just the sweetest person ever.  And even though they're basically for teenagers, I'm totally into them.  She's so sincere.  (This one is especially good around the 1:30 mark.  Why didn't I ever realize that?!).

Made this in the slow cooker and it was so good.

And if your toddler picks out neon orange sunglasses at the supermarket, just say YES!