Photo A Day 2

 I got together with some friends recently, and learned how to make some of the most delicious bread!  Seriously awesome!  And very pretty right?

Beckett discovered his lower lip this month. He loves to suck on it.  It cracks me up.  I call it his duck face :)

He also turned five months old this week!

 Earlier this week Avery picked up a package of star hair accessories and managed to let me purchase them with out me even knowing!  I didn't even know she had them at all the entire time at Wal-mart!  I was so confused when she kept asking for her stars in the car on the way home...

She is one sneaky girl!  I had better keep a better eye on her while shopping.  However, she wears these stars EVERY day now.  If I had known we were going to be buying them, I probably would have picked a better color combo!  Oh well, she loves them :)

Rand had his 31st birthday on Tuesday.   I got him these sweet glasses to sport that night and then forgot to have him wear them!  However I couldn't let the night end with out one picture...he was SUPER excited about it!

I made a malt ball ice cream cake. You can't go wrong with chocolate cake and ice cream, but this one wasn't really that good.  It also didn't want to stay together, so we had to eat it fast! 

 

The kids and I made this fun candy card for him.  Avery was really excited to buy so much candy and then really confused why she couldn't have any :)

 

Beckett also loves his toes right now!

Seriously...could he be any cuter???

This week Beckett is mastering rolling from his back to his tummy!  He has been trying for a while, but I think he has finally got it!  Yay!

*sorry for the blurry pictures, I didn't have the camera handy and just snapped them on my phone

Last week I signed Avery up for a Tiny Tots play group at our Community Center.  It is every Wednesday.  She loves it!  This last Wednesday Avery and her friend Presli were laughing so hard while on this teeter toter- it was so cute.

 

 "Delicious"

Rand loves to grill.  He's really good at it.  He got a smoker for Christmas and has been smoking just about everything he can think of!  Anyone that knows me knows that I don't like "bone" meat, so ribs are not my favorite... but Rand makes a mean rack of smoked ribs!  You should be jealous...

Photo a Day

I have realized that I never use our camera to take pictures anymore.  Ever since we got smart phones I find myself using that as my camera.  I take pictures on my phone all the time, but they aren't as good as the ones I would take on my camera.  I also  have a little obsession with Instagram and I love it!   I love that I can take a picture, put a fun filter on it and post it for others to see... all in about two seconds from my phone, it's genius!   But I really do need to be using my camera more... so I decided that this new year would be a great time to start doing that.
My sister Bree did a 365 challenge last year and posted weekly on her blog.  I loved it!  So I decided to do it myself this year (sorry for copying you Bree).  I need something to make me take a picture every day, or I won't do it.   I like the challenges that give you a subject to photograph each day.  I started out pretty good for a day or two and then got sick, all of us did.  Avery and I got it the worst.  There were lots of days that I didn't take a picture because it was the last thing on my mind.   I have made several attempts to make up for the pictures, but that isn't happening...So I decided to just post what I have taken so far and then promise to do better :)  I hope you will all forgive me! 

 Earlier this month Avery had her 6 month cardiology visit.  They are really easy and she used to not mind them at all, but the last few times have been bad... She hates the blood pressure cuff and cries the second she see's it.  She would't let them put the stickers on her stomach for the electrocardiogram- threw a huge fit.  Peeling them off is what really ticked her off though.  Then she has to lay down on a bed while they do a echocardiogram (heart ultrasound).  Again, threw a huge fit thinking it was going to hurt, but then realized that watching the projector on the ceiling and playing with a fun light up toy was actually fun.  Anyway, her heart looks great as always.  They mostly check because of her lack of a pulmonary valve.  If it ever causes any problems (makes her heart work too hard and causes it to enlarge on one side) she may need a surgery in the future.  As of now it is a normal size and we have nothing to worry about :)

"paper"

This paper is my primary sharing time lesson. January is my month to teach- yay!  Totally sarcastic.  I hate teaching.  Always have, but really it's not a big deal.  The lesson was on the plan of salvation, not an easy subject to talk to the little junior primary about..

"Something new"

I got some fun new running shoes for christmas.  This is a terrible picture (and was taken on my phone), but it was the first time I actually used them.

"view from here"

This was my view for several weeks, because I felt so crappy. I would sit back on the couch and watch the kids play.  Avery loves this fish puzzle. This day she decided to make a train with them.

"water"

Avery loves her bath time.  Usually I have the kids take a bath together, but this time she made a special request to take one by herself.  Her favorite thing to play with is her Dora and Boots.

"something round"

Avery loves these balls that Aunt Melanie and Uncle Tyler sent for christmas.  Here she is again making a train :)

"something yellow"

I love this yellow necklace.  It's my new favorite- looks awesome on me huh?

"two things"

Wish I could say that these were the only two cookies I had that day...more like times that by 10!  I love snickerdoodles!

No title for this one.  I just thought she looked so cute that day.  This girl is now a Sunbeam!  She did terrible the first time, but was a champ the next!  It is really hard for her to cooperate when her mom is in the room teaching.

Avery has decided that she doesn't like naps anymore, which has been really hard on me!  I NEED some time to myself to get a few things done every day.  She will still nap every few days, but they are getting farther and farther apart.  So last Sunday I went into her room to tell her that her dinner was ready and this is what I found.  I will say that I like the really early bed time though!

That is all I have for now!  I'm pretty sure there are other pictures that I am missing, but I will add them next time.  I will post again this weekend with what I have taken this week!

Christmas 2012

We had a great Christmas again this year!  I love that Avery is now old enough to understand and really get into it, it makes it so much more fun.  This year she really loved all the houses that decorated with lights.  We took her out a few times to look at some really fun neighborhoods.  It cracked me up that all you could hear from the back seat was  "wow!  wook at that one!"  Then of course every time we had to go somewhere at night, she had to come so she could see the lights.  Now that Christmas is over, she still wants to see the lights outside :)

Christmas Eve we had a few friends over for dinner and did dinner and a white elephant game.  It was totaly fun as always.  This year we decided to have each couple bring a $10 regular gift and one gag gift.  I thought for sure we would end up with at least one good gift...but we ended up with used batteries and a recorder (whistle) and handcuffs!  It wasn't a total loss because Avery loves that whistle :) 

Then of course the kids get to wear their new christmas jammies

Christmas morning Avery woke up at 7:30 as always and we opened presents.  We didn't take many pictures because we used the video camera the entire time.  It is way too long to post here, so here are the pictures that we did take

Avery's favorite gift is her "phone".  We got a great deal on a used IPod touch for her on Ebay.  She loves playing on our phones, and I was sick of my screen always being all sticky.  We thought about getting her a leap pad or something like that, but it made more sense to get her the IPod instead so we can just down load free apps instead of paying for individual games.  She also got lots of new games/puzzles.  The cookie set is something that her therapist used when she was in therapy and I just think it is adorable.  When I saw it at the store I knew she had to have it! 

I have no pictures of Beckett's gifts! Other than the one above of his activity gym mat thingy :) But I can tell you that he loves his new toys!

 We also meant to make a Christmas card to send out...and... that never happened!  So here is our family picture anyway!  Hope everyone had a great Christmas!