Weekend with Kendall

Happy Leap Day! Does anybody else wish we had an extra day in the summer - not the winter? Oh well, at least it gives me an extra day to get 12 blog posts in February since I missed Friday.

My sister Kelsey came to Pittsburgh this weekend (from Switzerland), and I was excited to see her for the first time since July! Originally, we planned on all four of us to make the two-hour trip to see her, but Avery came down with a pretty intense cough, and we decided it would be best for her to stay home with Travis. 

I left Friday afternoon with Kendall to start our weekend, and Kendall napped the entire trip from Kent, OH to Pittsburgh. Our first stop was meeting Kelsey for coffee for an hour in Pittsburgh. Kendall has changed so much since July, so it was nice for Kelsey to spend a little time with her and see how much she's grown. Kendall is so much more adventurous with people at this age than Avery was, and it was cute watching her exploring at the coffee shop. 

Kelsey had some plans with friends that evening, so Kendall and I made plans to spend the night with one of my oldest friends. She has a daughter who is two months older than Kendall. Kendall and Brooklyn (her daughter) were able to play for a few hours before bedtime, and it was nice to catch up and let Kendall have a play date without her big sister. It was also nice for me to catch up with my friend since we don't see each other very often.

On Saturday morning, we headed to my sister Lindsey's house to spend the day with her and her husband, my 2-year old nephew Cooper, and Kelsey. Cooper and Kendall did a lot of side-by-side play, and Cooper is really into letters and trains right now which is fun.

I've been in the process of transitioning Kendall to one nap a day, so I put her down for her nap around 1:30 or so. While she was napping, my sisters and I went and checked out a brewery and I had an excellent IPA. My brother-in-law, Meesh, stayed home with the kids. Kendall woke up before we got back, but she did great with Uncle Meesh! He said she didn't cry at all, and when I got back she was happily having a snack and milk. I think she really bonded with her uncle because she wanted him to pick her up and carry her around a few more times over the weekend. It was so cute, and while we were at the brewery he texted us this picture. So adorable!!

I had a great time catching up with my sisters, and it was also kind of relaxing to just have Kendall - even though I missed Avery and Travis of course. We had some fabulous homemade pizza for dinner and Kendall slept through the night with no problems.   

My dad flew in on Saturday night too, and we visited with a family friend on Sunday morning before driving Kelsey to the airport. Kendall napped the entire way home (I lucked out on traveling with her) and she was so happy to see Avery and Travis when we got home yesterday. Even though it wasn't what we planned, I really enjoyed having some quality time with Kendall, and Travis enjoyed spending one-on-one time with Avery as well. 

Avery is still coughing a lot, especially at night, so I'm really hoping for her to rest today so that she's healthy enough for school this week, and for our trip to Florida at the end of the week. 

All About Avery

It's been awhile since I've done a real update on Avery, and it's good timing to do one now since she is now FOUR years old!! It does NOT seem like it's been four years since I've been a mom, and haven't worked in an office, and basically my whole life changed overnight ;)

Over the last week, Facebook has been showing me so many memories of pictures I posted 4 years ago, right after Avery was born.



I love seeing her baby photos, but I am loving the chapter of life that we are in right now! 

Avery has matured so much in the last few months, especially since beginning preschool. It's hard to believe that this is the same girl who was terrified of anyone and everything. She absolutely loves going to school, and really enjoys playing with friends. We had her first parent-teacher conference last month, and she is exactly where she is supposed to be, according to her teachers. They said she behaves really well in school, and they really enjoy having her in the class. She still has the occasional "meltdown" at home, but they are starting to get fewer and fewer.

I'm amazed at how much her fine motor skills are improving right now. We bought her some new pajamas for Christmas, and she loves to button the buttons on them (and any buttons that Travis or I wear.) She can zip her jacket now, and we've started working on tying shoes, but we're not there yet. 

She is still such a great big sister to Kendall, and she plays with her so well. It is so nice to watch them play together, and Avery will always go to Kendall if she starts to fuss. Many times she can take care of it before I even get there. She really enjoys making Kendall laugh, and I see a lot of Travis's personality coming through. She also loves to pull Kendall around through the kitchen on her sled. It is so cute, and she is pretty strong! 

Avery loves to tell jokes now, and it is so funny to see what she'll come up with. She works hard to make us laugh. She also enjoys taking pictures now, and being in pictures as well - it was a long phase of trying to "sneak" photos of her...I'm glad that's over with!

I've been attending a MOPS meeting every other Friday since September. (Mothers of PreSchoolers) Avery does a little "MOPPETS class" there with the kids that are 3 and older. It's so nice that I can take her places and she looks forward to playing with the other kids. She tells me some of the things they do, and then asks when we are going back. Since we started going, she has never been shy or scared. We sat with the lady who does MOPPETS at our dinner the other night, and she said that Avery is so sweet with not only all of the kids, but especially with one of the little boys there who has down syndrome. I guess she loves making him laugh, and that was so good to hear. 

She does fabulous at her dance class every week too, and I'm amazed at how well she seems to listen in comparison to the other girls. She is definitely focused, and wants to do well in everything she does. Recently, I have been teaching her the Chicken Dance...don't ask me why I just thought it would be fun. We've also been doing a lot of the Elmo Slide. If you don't know what that is, check it out on You Tube. 

She is starting Learn to Skate group lessons tonight, and I couldn't be more excited. Over the weekend we watched an episode of Sofia the First where they were ice dancing, and I think that she's really looking forward to tonight. 

I love this little girl so much and am so thrilled to be her mom!

A Little Break in the Winter Weather

We had a beautiful weekend here in Northeast Ohio, especially for February! Saturday's high temperature hit around 60 degrees, and we really made the most of it. We had a pretty good amount of snow during the week, and by Saturday morning it was almost completely melted. 

I went for a 6 mile run on Saturday, which is the longest I've run in quite awhile. I felt great! I've been working out pretty consistently, but mostly doing "at-home" workouts with weights in my basement. It felt amazing to get outdoors and go for a long run with the warmer weather. I've been thinking about signing up for a half marathon, because it's actually been almost 3 years since I ran my last one (which seems unbelievable!) From 2009-2013, I ran at least one half-marathon every year, In 2014 I ran a 9 mile race in early spring, and then found out I was pregnant again the following week. It's been a little more challenging for me to get back into running shape since I had Kendall, and I think breastfeeding for 14 months made it a little tougher too. No more excuses now though....I just need a little motivation and hopefully signing up for a race will do it. 

After my run, we spend much of the afternoon outside with the girls. When Kendall was napping, Avery played on her swing set while I read on our deck. It was so relaxing. 

Later in the day, Travis's parents came over to watch the girls. They stayed outside with the girls and had Kendall walking up and down the sidewalks like a champ. Travis's mom also captured this cute Jeep photo. 

Travis and I went to a dinner with my MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers.) The dinner was at the Spaghetti Warehouse, and was a "MOPS and POPS" date night dinner (for Valentine's Day.) The food was great, and it was nice for Travis to meet the other moms that I have been spending time with every other Friday morning. We sat with our old neighbors (who moved to a new town back in May) and it was nice for Travis to catch up with them. We also participated in "The Newlyweds Game" against some other couples, and we WON! I was amazed that our answers matched perfectly so many times, and we won an Outback Steakhouse gift card :) One of the questions was "what color is your wife's toothbrush" and I could NOT think of what color my toothbrush was, but I guessed Green and White. Travis ALSO guessed Green and White, so we matched. However it was really bizarre, because when we got home, I looked at my toothbrush and it's PURPLE. I have NO idea how we matched on that one. 

Sunday we went to church, and then Lowes. We are thinking about some upcoming house projects, including updating our kitchen flooring, and updating our master bathroom. We're having a little trouble coming together on color schemes, so we haven't made any big decisions yet. In the meantime, Travis did a little work on his home office in our basement, which is only partially finished. He did a little electrical work yesterday so that we have a few more outlets, and better overhead lighting. I finished up the evening with Downton Abbey, which is sadly coming to an end. 

We've got a busy week ahead with Avery starting Learn to Skate on Wednesday!! Can't wait to blog about that!

Avery's Birthday Celebration

Avery turned four on Wednesday, and I feel like I went from having a two-year old and a newborn to having a four-year old and a one-year old in the blink of an eye! My girls are growing so fast.  

We decided not to have a big party for her; instead we had some family over on her actual birthday for some pizza and ice cream cake. It was perfect for a weeknight and a great way to celebrate. I was planning on getting some things for her birthday while she was in school on Tuesday, but she had a snow day, so she and Kendall came with me to get some decorations for her dinner. We also made her birthday treat for her to bring to her class the next day. We melted white and milk chocolate to make dipped pretzels with sprinkles. It was easy and fun! 

 (Unfortunately, most of these photos were taken from my phone so the lighting is not the greatest.)

I was on pinterest looking for some ideas, and I decided to make my own balloon arch. It turned out pretty cute. These pictures don't really do it justice because the lighting isn't great, but I will definitely be making more of these in the future. 

Avery is wearing a new dress that I bought her and gave to her in the morning so that she could wear it the whole day. One of her favorite gifts of the night was a Tinkerbell music box. She loves the fact that she can unlock it with a key, and keep little things safe in there. She also received a Frozen Magnetic Playset, a Belle dress and slippers, Disney Princess Dominoes Game. 

We ordered pizza and fried chicken, and had an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Super easy. 

Avery had a great time, and since we didn't have a big party this year, we told her that we'd take her to a "bouncy house" park this weekend. I think she'll really enjoy that. 

I'm excited to see what this year will bring!

Happy 4th Birthday Avery

Happy Birthday to my little Avery! 

I can't believe you are four years old. You made me a mother, and I have been so lucky to spend most of my days with you for the last four years. I love the little girl you are, and the little girl you are becoming. You are passionate and strong, and even though those traits can be a little trying at this age, I know that they are postive qualities to have as you get older. You are a fantastic big sister and helper, and Kendall is so lucky to have you as a role model. I love watching the progress you are making in school, and dance class, and I can't wait to see what other activities will come your way. 

I love you to the moon and back!!

Love, Mom

Kendall's Baptism

We had Kendall baptized at our church yesterday morning. She wore the same dress that Avery wore a few years ago, and looked beautiful. It was a nice ceremony that took place at the beginning of our regular church service. She didn't love the water on her head, but she calmed quickly. Our pastor is pretty good with kids, and we are happy to have that done. We had some family over for brunch afterward, and I made french toast casserole, roast beef sliders, and chili.

The day was going really well until Kendall had a little fall from her chair, and ended up with a swollen nose that was bleeding. We decided to take her to the Emergency Room just to be sure that she didn't have a concussion or broken nose (which she did not luckily.) It was our first trip with one of our kids to the E.R., so it was a little stressful for us, but luckily Kendall will be fine. She has a little bruising today, but the swelling is down significantly. 

Here are a few pictures of her baptism ceremony from the church:

Since it was Valentine's Day, I decorated cookies with Avery for our brunch as well. We decided to make "Valentine's Day snicker doodles." We basically just made snicker doodles, but added some festive pink, red, and heart sprinkles to them. They turned out super cute, and were tasty too.

Now that Kendall's baptism is over, I can focus on getting ready for Avery's 4th Birthday coming up already on Wednesday! 

Storytime, Sleepovers, and Snow

You may remember that a little over two years ago (what? how is that possible?), I had quite a bit of trouble taking Avery to Story Time at our local library. We tried to go for a few months, but Avery wasn't having it, so we didn't go back again for several months. After I had Kendall, we started going again, and Avery was totally fine and loved it.   

In the past few days, I feel like Avery has really come full circle. I took the girls to Story Time on Monday because we hadn't been for awhile, and every so often Avery asks if we can go borrow a book from the library. When we went on Monday, I took the girls to the Toddler Time, which is mainly for 2-3 year olds. It was interesting because Kendall is a little bit too young, and it was obvious yesterday that Avery has grown out of Toddler Time (she is almost four.) I inquired about the preschool-age Story Time while I was there, and they told me that Avery would definitely be ready for it. It's geared for 4-5 year olds, and they go in without their parents.

I took Avery to the preschool Story Time a few days later, and I told her that Kendall and I wouldn't be going in with her.  She went in with the other kids and did great! They do the regular Story Time for about 25-30 minutes, with songs, books, and bubbles, and then they do a small craft for about 10-15 minutes. She made a lantern out of construction paper. She was so proud of herself and it was just another way for me to see how much she's changed and matured in the last year.

I didn't get a great picture of her (because I wasn't in the room with her) but we did stay a  few minutes after for her to play with her new friends. She's in the pink pants above.

Kendall and I played on the large train that they have in the kids area for most of the time while we were waiting. Kendall loves to climb up and down right now, so this was very entertaining for her. We also read a few books, did a few peg puzzles, and played with some stuffed animal puppets.

Moving on...Avery has recently been obsessed with having a sleepover. She loves her sleeping bag, and always wants to sleep in it. She keeps asking me if she can have a sleepover in Kendall's room, and I'm thinking about letting her pretty soon. She's shared a room with Kendall when we've traveled, so I think they would be fine...I'm only hesitant because they both sleep so well...why mess up a good thing? Here she was the other night when Travis and I went up to bed: 

She moved her sleeping bag to our bedroom door. We did end up moving her back to her room and she barely woke up. It was so cute though. 

And finally, winter has officially arrived! About time! I mean, it is mid-February. We've been able to play outside for the past two days, before really cold temperatures arrive for our Valentine's Day Weekend. I actually don't mind the cold since it's supposed to warm up again next week. Avery and I had a blast playing in the snow too. Have a great weekend :)

Making Valentines

Avery has her preschool Valentine's Day tomorrow, so we spent some time working on her Valentines for her class. This is her second preschool Valentine's Day party, since she had one last year in her Me and My Parent Class as well. To be honest, we are using the same Valentine's that we bought last year! She only had six people in her class last year, and only 14 this year, and the pack that we bought had 28 Valentines, and she didn't remember anyway ;) 

We are using simple animal sticker Valentines that have a place where she can sign her name on the back. She loves writing her name now, so this was a great time for her to get some practice. I gave her some markers, and I wrote her name on just one of them, to give her an idea of what they should look like, and she did all of the rest on her own. She wrote her name on all of them, and then a few of them got some pictures of stick people, smiley faces, and fish. We were told to make enough for the entire class, and not to address them specifically to anybody, so that they could be passed out more quickly and easily. 

I'll be interested to see what kinds of Valentine's she brings home tomorrow. When we used these last year, I was surprised to find out that ours were BY FAR the most simple in the class. Many of the kids had elaborate things to pass out, including little mailboxes full of candy and personalized treat bags. I had to help her a little more last year, but I didn't do them for her, and I am proud that she did these all on her own this year. It's surprising to me when I see how obvious it is that the parent made the project, and the child didn't help at all. 

As you can see, she is writing her name pretty well. We did make quite a few "extra" and then I just put the best/most legible ones in her bag to take with her (we brought them in a day early so we didn't have to worry about forgetting them on Thursday.) She is excited to pass them out to her friends, and looking forward to a fun Valentine's Day party!

Skating with Avery

I took Avery ice skating on Saturday and we had such a wonderful time. This was only her second time on the ice. The last time I took her was a full year ago! It had been way to long. Since we've had such a mild winter, and the weather was perfect for skating yesterday, I took her to the outdoor rink that is about 15 minutes away from us, in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. They keep it open from December through February on the weekends. I'd never been there before yesterday, but we would definitely go there again. It was sunny and the temperature was right around 40 degrees which was perfect. 

I had us all decked out in layers, but we both got warm pretty quick and were able to shed a few layers for most of the time. I rented Avery skates when we got there. I wasn't sure if she was a 9 or 10, because she has shoes in both sizes, so I tried a 10 first. We put them on and got on the ice, but her ankles were really turning in, and she was having trouble supporting herself. I thought it might be a boot issue, so we went back and tried the 9, and it made a huge difference! Definitely skating in the correct size makes a big difference. 

At the beginning she wanted me to hold her hands and help her, but within just a few minutes I had her marching and skating on her own. She did really great and I couldn't believe what a difference she made in just 2 hours (although it helps when your mom is a former skating coach.) The rink was just a small circle, maybe 1/4-1/3 of the size of a regular rink, but that made it perfect for her to go around and set small "goals" of how far to go without falling. Even when she did fall, she quickly learned how to get back up, and every time she'd fall, we'd just yell "slip and slide" to make it fun. 

We went almost as soon as the rink opened, at noon. When we arrived, it was not very crowded at all, with only about 3 small groups of people there. More people did show up as time went on, but it never became too crowded, luckily for us. Most of the people skating tended to hang on the boards, which gave us a little more room to practice. There were a few teenagers there that were so amazed that a 3 year old was skating faster than them. Within about 30 minutes, Avery wanted to skate "on her own," and she didn't want me skating side-by-side with her. She would go around and around, and even throw in a few "tricks" as she called them, like trying to march in a circle, and also trying a little bit of backward skating. 

We did have to take a few snack breaks, but she skated for almost 2 hours, and would have stayed for more if I would have let her! I decided that the time is right to start her in skating lessons. I still want to work with her, but I think it would be nice for her to skate with kids her age in the group setting, and naturally there are times when she "fights" me when I'm trying to help her, and I think she would listen to a coach better than me. I don't know if she'll get as serious as I was about figure skating, but I told my husband that it's important to me that she goes through the Learn-To-Skate program so that she does learn to skate, and we can see if she wants to continue from there.

Here's a little video of her from Saturday. So proud of her!!

{House Tour} The Master Bedroom & Bath

Before we left on our trip last week, we did some major house cleaning since we had Travis's family staying at our home to watch the girls.  I had our room and bathroom in tip-top shape, so I figured,  great time to take more house tour pictures right?? 

Here is our master bedroom, and below, a few of our bathroom.

We bought new furniture a few years ago, and we've updated our room a lot since we moved into our home almost 9 years ago. I love the dark Merlot color of our furniture, and it's functional as well as beautiful. We have storage in the front of our bed as you can see, but also space behind the drawers to still put a few things under the bed.

The color scheme is shades of blue and tan. Very soothing. I actually chose this headboard...Travis wasn't too sure about it at first, but he's grown to really like it now.  

We have a cute little reading nook in the corner, which I actually do use to read (and sometimes lay my clothes on...I mean...it's hard not to!) It was used even more so when I was breastfeeding Avery and Kendall. This was one of the chairs I was actually comfortable in to feed Kendall, other than in her room. Occasionally it was used for the middle-of-the-night feedings in the beginning too. 

We bought a TV stand to match, and it's nice to watch shows upstairs occasionally before we go to bed. Ranger's bed is beside the TV :)

Here you can see the door that opens to the hallway, our closet door on the right, and our bathroom door on the left. It's great to have an attached master bath, but ours is nothing special. In fact, it's on our list of things to update in the very near future. We do have an over-sized tub which is nice. 

I also love having double sinks, and don't think I could ever go back to sharing one! I need my own space to brush my teeth. However, our vanity is the "builder's basic" that was oak-colored when we moved in, but is now cherry-stained to make it more cohesive with the rest of our house (and we like cherry a lot more than oak.) 

So there it is! Hope you enjoyed seeing our master bedroom and bathroom. I have enjoyed decorating it and making it a relaxing space for us to unwind at the end of the day!