Happy Birthday, Avery!

A year and 2 days ago, we met this beautiful face:
Amazing how things change in a year!

I cannot believe that my sweet baby is already a year old. She's not a baby anymore--she walks all over the place, is starting to talk (her favorite word is "NO!") and is a girl who most definitely knows what she wants and isn't the least bit afraid to scream until she gets it!

This little girl is so full of life and personality--it's crazy to think that just 12 months ago all she did was eat, sleep and poop. I can't even remember what our lives were like without her, it's like she's always been here. It's such a joy to watch her learn and grow every day.

Fun facts about Avery:
-Started walking about a month ago, and hasn't looked back since!
-Has about 5 words (mama, dada, kate, dog, no)
-Still only has two teeth, but that doesn't stop her from eating everything in sight!
-NEVER sits still. We have kissed our days of eating out goodbye for now, it's not worth it to fight with Avery the whole time!)
-Is obsessed with dolls. Walks around holding them to her chest and "shushing" them. It's pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen.
-Is pretty rough & tumble. She got a black eye the other day, and barely even flinched.
-LOVES her sister and wants to do everything Kate does. Kate is pretty tolerant of this, surprisingly.
-Still has pretty bad stranger anxiety. I haven't gotten to sit through a whole church service in months b/c the nursery has to call me to come get her after about 15 minutes of crying :(
-Is a complete mama's girl, and I love it!

We had her birthday party today, but I don't have the energy to write about it right now. Maybe tomorrow....

Ahem...

It has been called to my attention that my blog has been sorely neglected this summer. I don't know why, but sometimes I get in writing funks. The last time I blogged was right after K's bday. Here's a quick rundown on what has happened in my life since then:

• I turned 30 ( I was in denial that this would actually occur, but when I woke up on July 18th, my 20's had jumped ship)
• Josh and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. Crazy. We have a severe lack of babysitters, so we ordered Chinese takeout and drank wine after the girls went to bed.
• We took our first vacation as a family of 4. Stayed at Josh's aunt's AMAZING condo in Port Aransas. Seriously, this place was 10 times nicer than my house. And it's only used a handful of times a year! The vacation deserves a post of its own--stay tuned!
• And last, but not least....Kate started pre-school today!!

Look at her--she's practically a grown-up! I think I was more nervous than Kate about school starting. I mean, how would she survive without me for 5 hours? She needs me, right? Right? The kid practically jumped into the car this morning and barely looked up from her blocks when I left her at school. To say the first day was a success is an understatement. She LOVED it. It helps that one of my best friends is her teacher, so she felt pretty comfortable there.

People kept asking me if I cried when I dropped her off. I think I probably would have, if it weren't for Avery screaming the entire way home because she was mad that I didnt' leave her there with Kate. She provided a nice distraction from my sadness that my first baby is growing up. I do have to say though, it was nice having some 1:1 time with Avery. She never gets any mommy time, so I think this will be good for all of us!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Kate is 3, how could that be? Wasn't it just a few months ago that we brought that little bitty bundle of joy home from the hospital, totally terrified that we were going to break her before the day was over? When Kate was a baby, I didn't want her to grow up. I thought there was no way that I could love a toddler/preschooler/teenager as much as I loved that sweet baby. Wrong. I love that child more every day. She was a precious baby, but I think I'm loving these toddler years even more. She's SO funny. A conversation from last night (mind you, I was in the middle of cooking dinner:)

Kate: Mommy, please get me some milk
Me: Okay, just a second

about 5 minutes pass

Kate: Mommy, you never got me my milk
Me: Oops, sorry, I'll get it in a minute

a couple more minutes pass

Kate: FOCUS, Mommy, I NEED my milk!!!!

I'll post pics and party details later, but for now will leave you with a picture of the birthday girl swinging on her new swingset:

Splish-splash!

No air conditioning for 2.5 days meant a lot of time spent at the pool. K's a little nervous in the water-- you would think the world had come to an end to hear her scream when her face gets wet. But, as long as she has her beloved fishy float, she's as happy as a clam. Avery on the other hand, LOVES the water. Couldn't care less if you dunk her, and willingly sticks her face in there.

I love watching these two precious girls grow and seeing their different personalities emerge. Kate is our cautious girl, and somewhat of a drama queen. She is extremely smart, and that makes her somewhat of a challenge. Sometimes I forget that she's not even 3 years old.
Avery dives headfirst into anything and doesn't seem to mind much when she gets hurt. She already beats up on her poor sister. Now that Avery is getting older, they are actually starting to play together, and that always warms my heart. I never had a sister, so I love that my girls have each other!

A weekend with one

Josh took Kate to San Antonio over the weekend, leaving me with only Avery. I had honestly forgotten what it was like to only have one kid. So.much.easier. Why didn't I have a clean house when I only had Kate to tend to? Why wasn't dinner always ready by 6, and why didn't I have time to take up sewing?

Josh and Kate headed out early Saturday morning. By Saturday night, I had cleaned the house, gone shopping for baby shower decorations for the next day, made a diaper cake, and watched 2 movies. Oh, and played with Avery.

It was so nice to get some 1:1 time with sweet Avery. We don't ever really get that kind of time, since she naps at the same time as K. It's hard to believe that she's 9 months old now...where has the time gone? She's cruising like crazy, and has even stood by herself a few times. She waves bye-bye; she claps; and she dances anytime music comes on. Oh, and she also likes to give high-fives. She demanded one from the doctor the other day at her appointment. Speaking of her appointment, she's doing beautifully. She's checking in at 18 lb, 8 ounces (50th%) and is 28 3/4" long (80th%). She's a full pound and a half lighter than Kate was at this age...I think it's because she NEVER STOPS MOVING!!
Oh, and I got Kate's birthday invites done too...hard to believe she'll be 3 in less than 3 weeks! She requested a Strawberry Shortcake party, so that's what she'll get!

And the thunder rolls...

I admit it, I'm a complete baby when it comes to thunderstorms. I start to freak out at the first appearance of storm clouds. I refuse to drive in any type of rain other than a sprinkle. If it's thundering and lightening, forget it. I'll pull into the nearest gas station and wait it out. Of course, that almost backfired on me when the roof of the gas station got ripped off and fell inches away from my car...but I digress. You'd think that after living in Lubbock for 5 years, and in Ft. Worth for 6 years, I'd be used to tornado sirens and such....nope.

It has been raining here for days. Not sprinkling, not just a summer shower, but torrential rain. Thunder, lightening, tornadoes, you name it, we've got it. I don't like it. Wednesday night, the 80 mph winds knocked down half of the fences in our neighborhood. Scary. You know how tornados supposedly sound like freight trains? I swear I hear a train horn every time it starts to rain. One of the main issues I have with our house is that we have ZERO interior rooms. Damn open floor plan! Even our closets are exterior. If a tornado ever hits, we're toast. Of course, the weather guys just feed my fear since they interrupt all programming to show us how horrible the storms are.

Josh and Kate were supposed to leave tonight for San Antonio, but I convinced him to stay just in case a tornado happened to hit. I refuse to be in the house alone during hazardous weather...if Josh isn't home, I head to the neighbor's house. Of course, our neighbors moved earlier this year, and now we don't know the new people who moved in. They might think I was a bit strange if I showed up on their doorstep asking to camp out in their living room until the storm passes. Oh well, it's bound to happen sometime...probably tomorrow since Josh won't be here and rain is in the forecast again!

Contentment

I'll admit that I'm not always the most content person in the world. I can always list hundreds of things that would make me more content.
-if my house were bigger
-if my carpets weren't so dirty
-if Josh would help a little more around the house
-if Avery would sleep better
-if we just had a little more money...
and I could go on and on and on....

Lately though, I've been trying very hard to be content with where I am and with what I have. After much praying about it, I think I'm almost there. I realized that I care way too much about what other people think, and therefore try to have everything perfect just so people won't think I'm a failure. Basically, I was entirely caught up in ME and what I NEED. In a word, selfish. We are so blessed to have everything we have. In a time when so many people are suffering in this economy, we have felt barely a ripple.

~Is my house small? Yes, but at least we have a nice home and it's filled with people I love.
~Is my carpet dirty? Heck yes, but the two little girls who are responsible for the grime are such blessings. They're worth the dirty carpet.
~Does Josh still leave his dirty dishes in the sink and his clothes on the floor? Yep, but he also works 10 hours a day so that we can have everything we have and I can stay at home with our precious girls.
~Does Avery still wake up at night? Yes, but I'm learning to cherish that quiet time with my sweet baby who is growing up so fast.

Of course, there are still times that I feel like, if I could just have (insert random thing here), I would be happier. I'm a work in progress. But, believe me, with God's help, I've come a long way. I can honestly say now that I can think about staying in our house for another few years without having an anxiety attack. I'm trying to enjoy my children every day instead of worrying about everything that pops into my head. I've been a worrier my whole life, so this is a new way of thinking, a new way of BEING for me.

So far, I like it!