Evan is 5!!!

There are a few funny things I need write about Evan now that he is 5.

He is the sweetest little boy you will ever meet.  If Avery cries, he cries and has to hug her.  He is the hardest worker, even his teachers and therapists say so.  :)

He is really funny.  He loves to make jokes, especially ones about letters.  For instance, he thinks it is funny when he pronouces the silent "e" on words, like the word "everywhere" he will call it "everywhere-E" and wait for me to laugh.  I love it! 

He also LOVES to sleep in his "door bed".  Right after we put him to bed he will go behind his door and fall asleep.  When we go in to check on him we have to slowly push the door so we can get through and put him back into bed.  He sometimes will go to sleep in his "chair bed".  Sometimes right before bed he will make a joke that he wants to go to mama's bed too.  I love when he wakes up in the morning and climbs into bed with me and goes right back to sleep.  I tell him to sleep until 7:00.  Every morning with about 10 minutes to go he will start a count down... "9 more minutes...8 more minutes".  If I tell him to "wait a minute" he will say "sec sec sec" 60 times...that one I don't like as much.  :)

He still loves to be a menu master with the remote control during movies.  Sometimes he watches the bonus material, other times he just wants to control which chapter he is watching.  When we watch the entire movie, he will tell you when each new chapter starts and what it is called.

Avery has decided that Evan is her prince and often makes him dress up and dance with her.  :)  He will even kiss her to wake her up when she pretends she is snow white (mommy is the mean witch who has to give her the apple!). 

Evan had a great birthday party when Nana and Papa came for a visit.  We went to Chuck E Cheese and he played the fishing game, and rode the carosel 100 times.  He loved his Angry Birds decorations and on the big day, he chose to stay home and play Wii, Leap Pad and You Tube.  Such a funny boy!

Today we went to the library and he was so excited to find a new Baby Einstein video.  He started watching it in the playroom and fell fast asleep.  I am about to have to wake him up so he will sleep tonight and be well rested for our dinner with our friends the Christianson's tomorrow. 

Things I Don't Want To Forget

Since finding time to blog has become increasingly difficult, I need to make notes of a few everyday things that down the road I will want to remember.

The first one is the way Avery runs.  She loves to run and when she gets going she gets her right arm pumping like crazy and her left arm stays straight.  It makes me laugh so much she is so precious. 

Another Avery-ism is the good night routine.  We read one book (sometimes two or three), then we climb into bed and I tell her a story about Princess Avery then we have to sing 6 songs!  She makes us sing You Are My Sunshine, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Lulluby and Goodnight (Max and Ruby), and Rock a By Baby.  :)

As for Evan, he is so excited for Halloween and is excited every day to wear his Angry Birds costume.  He has also become so great at playing games on the ipad, but gets upset playing Flow when he doesn't get a perfect score.  :)  He is such a hard worker.  He loves to watch YouTube, and finds the most interesting things...which is good and bad.

 

One thing that is noteworthy is that this morning when the kids climbed into the car Avery buckled Evan's carseat for him.  She is such a mother hen and Evan loves it.  After they were both buckled they held hands all the way to school. 

 

Oh yeah, yesterday we found out that Aaron is going to be made an Officer in August.  :)

                                                                                                                                                                            

Holy July Batman!

Where have we been for the last 3 months???  Well...the answer is a little bit of everywhere.   I will be adding pictures soon, but wanted to at least get started with the words tonight since I have been putting this off way too long!

The kids finished up with school and both of them had a wonderful year. 

The biggest event of the last few months was Avery's 3rd birthday!  Here is the birthday questionairre I gave to her the morning of her birthday:

1.  What is your favorite color?  Purple
2.  What is your favorite toy?  Little Mermaid Darbie (Barbie)
3.  What is your favorite fruit?  Grapes
4.  What is your favorite TV show?  Caillou "He is a stinker pants."
5.  What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
6.  Waht is your favorite outfit?  Zebra clothes
7.  What is your favorite game?  Catch with a ball
8.  What is your favorite snack?  Goldfish!
9.  What is your favorite animal?  Gecko
10.  What is your favorite song? Little Mermaid-Under the Sea, Look At This Stuff (Part of Your World), and Kiss the Girl
11.  What is your favorite book?  Princess books
12.  Who is your best friend?  Ryleigh and Daisy
13.  What is your favorite breakfast?  Donuts
14.  What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Play soccer
15.  What is your favorite drink?  Ice water
16.  What is your favorite season? Fall "It is chilly and hot too"
17.  What do you like to take to bed with you?  Little Mermaid
18.  What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Chicken Nuggets
19.  What do you want to be when you grow up? A daddy
20.  What is your favorite movie?  Little Mermaid


We had a wonderful visit from Nana and Papa and we celebrated Avery's birthday with them and her best friends Ryleigh and Baby Daisy.  The night before her birthday, she and Nana baked a cake.  She had it all planned in her head, she wanted a chocolate cake, with princesses, sprinkles and cut in triangles.  It turned out perfect!!!

We started the day with a housefull of decorations that surprised Avery when she woke up.  She walked out of the hallway and said "IT IS MY BIRTHDAY!" It was so cute.  She was excited to have birthday donuts from Papa too.  We then went to Build a Bear, where the girls wore their princess dresses.  Avery was set on being a princess for her birthday so we obliged.  The girls both chose the Minnie bear and dressed her in the same dresses they were wearing (Rapunzel).  Daisy chose a bunny and Evan chose a "Read Bear" which surprised me because I was sure he was going to chose an angry bird!

After Build a Bear we ventured Chuck E Cheese (along with every other kid in Jacksonville!).  The kids played as many games as we could fit in, ate lunch and had cake and presents.  She was still celebrating her birthday on my birthday 3 days later!  :)

The kids just finished a week of swimming lessons and did great!  Well...Evan did awesome and Avery is in a phase where she doesn't want to participate in many activities lately.  They both really love So You Think You Can Dance, especially Contemporary and Ballet routines.  I have so much fun watching them enjoy dance.  Evan has started playing the drums too and he is awesome at reading music!  His attention span could use a little work when it comes to drumming, but he has fun doing it. 

We have one month left of the summer then Evan begins VPK and Avery starts at a new school...things should get even more interesting around here!

Bye Bye March, Hello April

It is Autism Awareness month!  I hope April brings some great days our way!  We have our house lit up blue (technically it looks green because of our yellow house, but hey...we tried! 

March was an interesting month for us.  I had a crazy infection, but Grandma was able to come and visit and take care of me so that made it better.  :) 

The kids are as funny as ever.  There is a new show called Doc McStuffins on Disney Junior and both kids love it.  Avery always wanted to play doctor before, but now she plays all the time.  She takes such good care of her animals (and mommy too).  She is still VERY spirited and we are hoping once she turns 3 the terrible twos will be a thing of the past!  She is still very nurturing.  She likes to try to baby Evan and yesterday she even tried to put his pants and shoes on for him. 

Evan has been having some stressful days and issues with the potty.  He is remaining optimistic though.  He still loves watching movies.  One of his favorites right now is Santa Buddies.  He always says to me "I want to watch Santa Buddies and laugh so hard."  It is hilarious. 

That is all I can think of for now.  Wish us luck for April!  :)

Happy Valentines Day

Well...I give up!  I have been avoiding blogging lately because I have gotten so far behind that I feel overwhelmed to even think about trying, in the meantime, I am missing out on blogging some awesome stuff!  So, instead, I am going to do a brief synopsis of the things I missed and start anew.  :) 

To make it easier for me (and to allow for me to come back and add a blog later if I get the chance), I have numbered the events.


1.  Christmas-we had a great Christmas with Nana, Papa and Aunt Sara.  On Christmas Eve we had the Bruce's over and had a Mexican Fiesta.  Avery's favorite part was decorating cookies with her friend Ryleigh and Evan just loved running around with his Leapster trying to avoid the noisy girls. 

2.  Avery's first haircut-Avery had beautiful golden locks, but the ends were still very much baby hair and she needed a trip.  On New Years Eve I took her to my stylist for her first haircut.  I think all the time we have spent playing salon in the mornings has really paid off because she was so wonderful.  She was a little wiggly though, so the "trim" we were going for ended up being a very short chin length bob.  But, her hair seems so much thicker and will hopefully grow out nice and even so I can start doing super cute "hair dudes" again.  Right now we can do the middle pony and pig tails and that is about it.  I was so proud of her.

3.  Aaron Baptism-This one is a doozy!  Aaron surprised everyone a few months back when he decided he wanted the missionaries to come and teach him about my church.  After much contemplation he decided he wanted to be baptized.  It was a really wonderful day!  Aaron chose Silent Night as one of the Hymns we sang and Evan might as well have been doing a solo as loud and proud as he sang.  It brought tears to my eyes!  Amy Kimble gave a wonderful talk and then Aaron went into the "funny pool".  It was made even more special that Aaron's good friend Jay baptized him.  It was Jay's first baptism, so it will always be really special for him too.  Aaron and I are planning to go to the Orlando temple next February.  

 5.  Valentines Day-We had a great day at school today and the kids (namely Avery) were so excited to give and receive Valentines.  They were even really cuddly with one another and at one point Avery wrapped her arms around Evan and said "Evy Bear you are my best friend!" My heart melted.  These kids are so amazing! 

4.  Amy Mathesons Visit-My best friend in the whole wide world came to visit and while we didn't take any pictures, because we stayed in our PJ's most of the time, the kids and I loved every minute of it!  The #1 favorite thing the kids loved to do with Amy is to watch Boundin' and jump all over her and her bed.  They still talk about when "Awesome Amy" came to visit.  It was a wonderful week and I can't wait for it to happen again!

5.  Kids update-Avery is the best little helper.  She wants to make meals and do everything for Evan.  She is a natural little mommy (I know I have said that before).  Every morning she helps set the table and loves to help me cook.  Tonight she helped me make rice but the other night she made a "Funny Face Sandwich".  She helped me choose everything and put it all on herself.  She is such a big girl!!!

Evan is as goofy as ever. 

He still really loves playing with the DVD player and watching his favorite movies.  In addition to Disney, he also really loves Dora, Max and Ruby and Super Why.  He has some rubber little toys that he got for his birthday and he has funny names for each of them.  The dinosaur is named Francias, the lizard is named Espanol, the other dinosaur is Penny, the rat is Ratty (short for Ratatouille), and last but not least is a crocodile named Captain Hook.  He loves these animals so much and puts their hands together when we pray and has them hold hands when they play.  It is so cute that I can even ignore that I have a rubber rat that comes to the dinner table. 



Pretty Princess Ballerina!

Avery had her very first ballet recital on December 10th!  The days prior to the recital she came down with a horrible flu.   She was grumpy and feverish and ended up with a terrible rash everywhere, especially on her face.  The morning of the recital she no longer had a temperature, but wasn't feeling the best.  Aaron and I were having such a hard time deciding if we were going to take her or not, but decided that since she was so excited for it before she got sick, that she would be sad if she missed it.

So...I fought with my poor sick baby to get her ready (reminded me of all the times my mom complained how horrible my sisters and I were on any performance days).  But, alas, I got her hair done and attempted to do her makeup.  She always wants me to do hers when I do mine, and I always turn my brushes backwards and I never really put any on, but when I needed to put some on she wasn't having it!  I guess our future with Toddlers and Tiaras is bleak.  :)  I was able to get a little on but she cried it all off before the show began.  :( 

I dropped her off with the other crying toddlers (it was a stressful time for everyone).  There were little girls crying everywhere!  I was so nervous when I walked into the chapel to wait for her to come out...but here is what happened.  She is the one Mrs. Jackie is carrying and on the far left...

I couldn't have been more proud!!!! She did so great! I thought for sure when I saw Mrs. Jackie was holding her that she wouldn't stay on stage at all. Also, I thought once everyone started clapping that she would get scared (she is scared of everything lately!). 

She loves dance so much!  Barely a day goes by when she doesn't ask to wear her ballet slippers and dance around the living room.  She is always saying, "Mommy watch me dance" and "mommy clap for me!"  She practices so much that Evan can do all the moves too, just with a little less grace.  :)

I'm so proud of my baby girl and hope that she will always love to dance this much!!!

Disneyworld!!! Happy Birthday Evan!

Happy birthday sweet Evan!  You are the smartest and sweetest 4 year old I have ever known! 

On Evan's birthday, for the second year in a row we were lucky enough to go back to Disney World!  There was a lot of build up for the Disney trip, we watched Sing Along Disneyland Fun as often as possible since it shows so many of the rides and characters and the kids LOVE it.  I was a little worried that Avery would be scared of everything since loud noises and anyone in costume tends to get her worried. 

We had started a countdown and every morning Evan would ask if we were going to Disney World (or sometimes Castle Disney World) today.  He knew his birthday was on the 17th, so he was a little confused when we went on the 15th.  :)  When we first arrived we went right to Hollywood Studios so we could see the Disney Jr. show and see the Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse.

The show wasn't starting right away so we went to see a few characters.  Pooh was our first and Avery was not really happy about it at all.  Evan thought it was pretty cool so we were encouraged and stood in line to see Mickey.  She was cautious at first, but by the end of our visit she was giving him hugs and being so sweet! 

After that we headed to the Disney Jr. show and while we were so sad to find out that the Little Einsteins don't do photos anymore, the kids were happy to see the show and enjoyed the addition of Jake and the Neverland Pirates!  Last year Evan danced like crazy and the first time we watched the show Evan was very reserved, but Avery was dancing like crazy.  They both loved it so much that we went a few times.  We also went to the Little Mermaid show, which they both liked, until Ursula came out then Avery thought it was "scaries".  They loved when it misted and felt like rain and Avery loved when Ariel "sang on the rock", just like in her movie (Disney Sing Along...not Little Mermaid...that one is too scaries.).  We finished the day out with a little Toy Story ride which the kids loved and we repeated (thank you Disney Guest Assistance Card!!!)

That night we checked into the hotel and the only kid channel they had was Disney channel (go figure) so we turned it on and the movie Bolt was on.  The kids thought it was great and watched the whole movie.  I still have to tell him stories about the first time he saw Bolt!

The next day we went to the Magic Kingdom.  On our way to Fantasy Land we saw the teacups and couldn't wait to get on.  I told Aaron he wasn't allowed to spin (lest the kids get sick the first part of the day).  But when we got on, they wanted to spin!!!  I love this picture of them during the ride, it speaks for itself!

The kids were excited (ok, maybe that was just me) to see the sword from Sword in the Stone.  We also got to see the Philharmagic show for the first time.  The kids had a fun time with the 3D glasses and while Avery was spooked by the 3D, Evan was in sensory heaven!  Avery named it the "scary movie", but was brave enough to go back the next day.

We went on every ride we could and the kids (and grown ups) were loving every minute of it.  The favorite characters of the day were Jesse and Woody.  Avery was very intent on telling Jesse that she "pee pee'd in the potty".  When she finally met the characters, she forgot to tell her.  As she walked away from Jesse and she was already with the next child Avery stopped and yelled at the top of her lungs (and that is saying a lot!)..."JESSE!  I PEE PEE'D IN THE POTTY!!!"  Jesse gave her a wave and all mommies and daddies in line got a good laugh out of it! 

Luckily for Evan, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was next to the Toy Story characters and daddy took him for a ride.  He loved the kiddie roller coaster but we were a little worried that the grown up coaster would be too much for him.  It wasn't...he loved it.  I think he probably rode it 6 times, and would have doubled that if we let him.  Of course Avery was way too tiny to ride (though she is hoping to "ride roller coaster with mommy" next time we go.  So she wouldn't feel bad, we took a walk and she got a souvenir cup full of popcorn which she had wanted since the moment we got into the park.  It was an amazing day at the Magic Kingdom and I am proud to say that the cost of the popcorn, was the only money we spent inside the park the entire day!!!  We were extra prepared!

The next day we went to the Animal Kingdom for the first time.  Both kids really loved the safari, but the best part for them was the chance to see all of their favorite characters in a small area.  Avery loved everyone and ran to them with open arms (except Pluto and a few of the Jungle Book characters who made her cry).  They loved seeing Chip and Dale and Goofy and Donald.  I was so proud of them for being such great kids.  Every day was magical, and even though they were tired (hotel sleeping isn't the easiest for anyone) and the weather was unseasonably hot (in the 90's and humid), they were so wonderful and truly enjoyed each moment.  The only issue I have now is that every day when I ask them what we are going to do today their answer is "Go to Disney World!!!!"  It breaks my hear to tell them no, but I am happy that we live close enough that we can get back there soon.  I hope it was a great and memorable birthday for my big boy!!!