Project completed!

I'm so excited that I finally finished a knitting project! I have several projects that have been in the works for an eternity, so I'm very proud to say that I actually completed one! I knit a tomato hat for Griffin. Not only is it complete, but I had to learn several new techniques to complete it. Yay me! :-)

Unstoppable

Griffin is aging me faster than both other kids put together! He cannot be stopped. His new favorite thing is climbing on the bathroom counter to play in the water -- and he does this any time he finds the bathroom door open. And just the other day, I discovered him climbing up Rhys's toy bins in his room. Scary!

Chalk portrait

Avery made this portrait of Griffin with sidewalk chalk. The resemblance is uncanny. :-)

Griffin, 14 months

Summer Fun

More new words!

At the wee hours of the morning today, Griffin flopped on Bill's pillow and said, "Night, night?" That's the first time he's said it! He also added "peekaboo" and "Avery" to his repetoire this week.

Flip Flopper!

Avery has been working on learning a flip flop for a few months now, but we were so surprised when she called us in her room the other night to show us that she could do it by herself! Apparently she had been working on it in her room alone at bedtime -- eek! Luckily she managed to get it down without a trip to the ER. :-)


Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing


Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Gymnastics update

Avery is still enjoying being on the Show Team. They haven't had any recent performances, but they've been working very hard to prepare for an upcoming Showcase. Avery is sooooo close to being able to do a flip flop on her own! She can actually do it, but is still a little nervous about it. Once she gets over the mental block, there will be no stopping her!

Also, we found out this week that Avery will be participating in four meets this year! She'll be competing as a Level 3, and they just do short routines and skill sets. They don't give scores, they just give ribbons -- and everyone gets a ribbon. So hopefully it won't be too much pressure for our little perfectionist. She's very excited! I'm excited for her too, but I'm more than a little worried about how I'll handle taking the kids to the meets (including two out-of-town meets) while Bill works. Eeeek!

Bay-bee!

This is Griffin's new word! I was watching A Baby Story on tv the other day, and he stopped what he was doing, pointed at the tv, and clear as a bell, said "Baby!" I was so surprised! He probably has an entire dictionary full of words in his head, and he's just choosy about when he'll show me what he knows!

Wedding

Last weekend, Avery and Rhys participated in our cousin Kristin's wedding. Rhys was a ring bearer and Avery was a flower girl. It was a beautiful wedding, and both kids did really well standing up quietly the whole time (although Avery was busy finger-spelling to herself and Rhys was standing between the minister and the couple!). Griffin stayed home with Nonnie, thank goodness. I'm not sure if him climbing on the table or hanging from the rafters would have been well-received. :-)

Rhys loved wearing his tuxedo, but at first he wasn't too pleased with it. When we brought it home and told him that he'd be wearing it to the wedding, he said, "NOOOOO! Where's my "bear" suit??"

Other exciting wedding news: my cousin Elisha is engaged! We're so excited -- Nick is a great guy and will make a wonderful addition to our family.

Volunteering

Part of what has been keeping me busy is my new position volunteering with Family Connections. I am a Parent Educator, working with the Parents of Newborns project. For the past month, I've been training, but I'll be on my own starting next week. My job will be talking to new parents giving them information and providing breastfeeding support. I'm really enjoying it so far!

Mr. Smarty Pants!

Griffin surprises us every day with the things he knows! He still doesn't say a lot, but he understands quite a bit. He knows all of us by name and knows many more words. He can follow simple directions, like "get your shoes" or "go find Avery". He lives to be outside, and yesterday he brought Bill his shoes, got my shoes, then brought me his shoes. After we all put them on, he walked to the front door, pointing outside. We were so surprised at the plan he hatched!

Avery & Rhys

Brotherly love

Awwwww!

Night Knight

Rhys is obsessed with everything related to knights and King Arthur! We bought him two knight figures, and they go everywhere with him. He even sleeps with them.

Linah's a graduate!!

We went to Caroline's graduation last week. We're soooooo proud of her!! CONGRATULATIONS, AUNTIE LINAH!!!!

Gymnastics performance

Avery had another gymnastics performance. This one was 30 minutes long. They did their dance, then did a circuit of different events including bars, beam, and floor. The girls all did very well, and the most miraculous part was that Griffin actually fell asleep in Nonnies arms during the performance!

Waco Zoo revisited

I decided on a whim to take the kids to the Waco Zoo again a few weeks ago. I wanted to go while the weather wasn't too hot, and it turned out to be a great day. We really love that zoo. Griffin had a blast, and he barked at every animal he saw -- even the fish! He was so cute toddling around the zoo.

Biker girl

Avery learned how to ride her bike without training wheels! She was very hesitant, but she did it!

Walker!

A couple of weeks after his first birthday, Griffin really took off. He skipped most of the toddling, and went straight to running! He is an old pro now!

Griffin's first haircut

A few weeks after his first birthday, I decided to take Griffin for his first haircut. He looked very cute, although it wasn't a pleasant experience! They tried to put him on one of those little motorcycle chairs, but he only sat for about 2 seconds before he decided he wanted OFF. I ended up holding him for most of his haircut, so I only got one sad little picture. But I did take a few "after" pictures.

During the haircut...


After...




And who can resist this picture?

Campers

Bill and the kids camped in the living room. They ate veggie hot dogs and smores, then they all cuddled up the tent for the night.

Gymnastics

We went to Parent Observation Day at Rhys's gymnastics class. He showed us all the things he's been working on, and he got an award. He was so proud!

Jasper Louise

Awww! I love my sweet Jasper Louise.

Easter

The kids enjoyed hunting for eggs here at home.
And also at co-op.

Woah!

It's been almost 2 months since my last blog entry! Did you all think we fell off the face of the earth? Or maybe that I'd finally cracked under the pressure of my brood and was committed to a nearby mental hospital? Well, thankfully, that is not the case. You know the saying that goes something like "never look under the hood of a mechanic's car"? I think it can officially be rewritten as "never try to use a computer guy's wife's computer". *sigh* My computer has been broken since Easter. Yes, Easter. Granted, we have been very busy...but I think the bigger problem is that my work-weary husband didn't want to tackle my piecemeal laptop. At any rate, he is working on it as we speak! So maybe I'll be blogging regularly soon. At a minimum, I'm going to try to hit the highlights of the past two months....

First sleepover

On Wednesday, the kids had their friends Maya and Benjamin over for their first sleepover. I was amazed at how well everyone did! The boys played and watched Star Wars and were asleep by about 8:30! The girls were up much later, but they quietly talked and wrote stories in Avery's room. It was a roaring sucess!

The next morning, Avery, Maya, and Benja went to their first drama class. Avery was surprisingly shy! I'm hoping she warms up to it soon!

Nature Center

Last Monday we went with friends to the Austin Nature Center. The kids had a good time exploring and digging in the dino pit!

Taking a "dunce-nap"

Last week, Rhys got in some trouble and needed to sit in timeout. While in his 3 minute timeout, he actually fell asleep with his nose in the corner! (No, we don't make face the corner.) He turned his head around by the time I found the camera, and he slept like that, leaning on the couch, for about 45 minutes! Bill took one look at Rhys sleeping with his nose in the corner and proclaimed it Rhys's "dunce-nap" (spoken with a British accent, of course).

Wildflower Center

Today we went with some friends to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. It was a much better time to go than last time! (We went before in January and everything was dead!) Avery and Colton brought their nature journals, and they were very serious about documenting as many flowers as possible. The flowers were gorgeous. I think the Texas wildflowers are my very favorite thing about living here. I love spring!

Vegetable garden

We got our veggie garden planted last weekend. We're growing spinach, squash, strawberries, peppers, tomatoes, and some herbs.

Avery & Maya

Our friends and their kids came over for dinner recently. We went to check on the girls, and discovered that they had gotten all comfy and were busy writing their books in Avery's bed! Those two are quite a pair -- their both unstoppable bookworms and budding writers.

Showteam performance

On Saturday, Avery had a Showteam performance at an elementary school carnival. At this one, they were all in their uniforms and they got to do their dance routine! The girls did great, despite the fact that it was very hot and the mats were burning their little feet! Avery was very excited and nervous. In fact, she couldn't sleep the night before. But she had fun once it started and can't wait to perform again!

It's a party!

On Sunday, we had a party for Griffin's first birthday. We had a teddy bear theme, and I made bear invitations and cupcakes, and Griffin wore his teddy bear pants. Griff seemed a little overwhelmed at his party, but he enjoyed himself by showing all of his admirers how he climbs all the shelves and tables in the house. He also liked his birthday cupcake, and made quite a mess with it. He got lots of great gifts too, which he has been playing with nonstop since his party!

Griffin's birthday

On Friday, Griffin's actual birthday, we gave him his present first thing in the morning. Rhys and Avery were very excited to give him his gift, and they helped him open it. Griff got a Thomas the Train ride-on toy. He loves it! He likes to push it and be pushed too. He also really likes that it plays music; he dances when he hears it. For lunch, I made his favorite meal: veggie hot dog and macaroni and cheese. I think he had a nice day, and I held it together for what is a very emotional day for me. :*( How is my baby already one?!!