New Year,New Goals

Well, it's 2015 and I already and behind on blogging! January only has one week left and it has flown by. Dave has had two snow days which has been really fun. I never thought working at a hospital that he would get snow days! Some big changes have been happening in our house and it looks like this year will be busy. Dave got called as the young men's president at the beginning of the month. That has added early morning meetings, firesides, BYC, campouts, presidency meetings, mid week activities and the list goes on! He is handing it like a level headed stress free champ. Even though he is busier we seem to be managing our time as a family better. Friday nights have become pizza, rootbeer, treat and movie night for us. I take the girls to the library on Thursday and we pick out a movie to watch the next night. It has been a lot of fun to having a little family tradition each week even though it is simple. I probably just enjoy paper plates and no cooking! Addison has enjoying taking swim lessons at the YMCA this month as well. They are going so much better than they did this summer. She is learning to trust her teacher and use big arms to move around the pool. Avery is going into the nursery at the YMCA a little better each time. She cries less and less so I have hopes that she'll like it soon. Addison is enjoying her preschool class so much lately. One day she came home and I got a text from one of the moms asking when Addison's Frozen party was??!?! Apparently Addison had planned a Frozen themed party complete with invites, games and blue cupcakes. She told her friends to come to our house and to wear their Elsa dresses. I about died! Luckily the library was having a Frozen party later that week that was a good substitute to throwing together a party. She is very creative and loves to sit and draw, cut, glue and create anything she can get her hands on. Her curly blonde hair is getting so long we had to upgrade to big girl shampoo and conditioner. Miss Avery Mae is still keeping me on my toes. She is starting to sleep in later in the mornings which has me really happy. I'm trying to transition her to one long nap in afternoon and she is struggling with that. She is addicted to her bottle and I'm afraid it's going to be worse than cutting the binky. Her hair is growing in and we have been putting a little poof on top with a tiny bow. It makes her look so grown up. Avery is really into saying, "Hot!" for every piece of food that is put in front of her. I had to startle her one day when I was straightening my hair and I think it became implanted on her brain that everything it HOT. She'll blow on her food forever!! She loves to sit in the kids chair in our family room and flip through a book. The girls have a hard time sharing the space and I have a feeling another one will have to make an appearance later this year. Avery seems to find her new broom from Santa everyday and sweeps under the table before getting stuck:) She is growing out of the baby stage quickly and entering the toddler phase. She is starting to throw tantrums and has territory over certain toys from Addison. The countdown is on until she goes to nursery and I CAN.NOT.WAIT! The most challenging time for me as a mother is between 15-18 months at church!!! There is no hope to go to second or third hour for me. Avery rolls around on the ground crying and there is not much I can do to help her. She wants candy that the old ladies sneak her and that just makes things worse! Avery is finally cutting some teeth and won't have a toothless grin for much longer. The girls keep me happy, busy and mostly worn out! I'm enjoying a little crafting here and there these days. I have a new visiting teaching partner and route which I've really enjoyed. My route has changed a lot that I've had a difficult time making friendships with people. I'm hoping it stays the same for a while. That is how I developed some of my best friends in Buffalo! Addison has been conducting and planning our family home evening lessons lately. She is really stuck on the story of David and Goliath since she gets to throw 5 stones at her dad:) I'm grateful to be a stay and home mom to 2 spunky and  determined little girls. I have high hopes that 2015 with be a great year filled with many milestones as a family!

Christmas 2014

Christmas has come and gone and we have a lot to be thankful for. I was in charge of the committee for our wards Christmas party this year. It was a TON of work and I was exhausted by the end of the evening. My parents came up and helped watch the girls all day so that I could decorate the church! Grandparents of the year! We tried to create a few new holiday traditions this year. We went to a lights display outdoors and pretended like it was the Polar Express. We loaded the girls in their pajamas and gave them hot chocolate. Dave even found a train whistle to blow before we left. Avery screamed the whole time and Addison didn't like her hot hot chocolate:) Good times! There is a giant tree at an outdoor mall that was lite. We went and walked around it and got hot chocolate afterwards. We gave the girls pretty fur coats this year that neither of them loved, but they were so cute! We went to playgroup and preschool Christmas parties. A lot of cookie decorating and a lot of cute gift giving. This year we made wreaths out of clementines to hand out to our friends.  I love that the girls are getting old enough to enjoy the holidays more. Dave had to go into work Christmas Eve at 3pm so Santa came to our house a day early. Addison helped me make cinnamon rolls and did a great job cracking the eggs. The girls enjoyed tearing through gifts and making a mess of wrapping paper and toys. Addison was shy coming around the corner and seeing everything out. Avery wasn't really into tearing her wrapping paper so I ended up opening most of her gifts. Santa brought a grocery store set up for both of the girls to enjoy. Addison loves the food set that came with it that you can cut up with a wooden knife. Avery got a cute doll cradle and a doll diaper bag that she carries around like a purse. Avery is always cleaning the the floor with whatever she can find. Santa brought her a broom and dust pan. She LOVES it! It cracks me up watching her toddle around with it behind her. She's going to be a great helper! Grandma Michael sent Avery a music toy with little people that she likes to sit on and lean her head back. It is so weird, but she keeps doing it! Addison's dreams came true Christmas morning. The world of Frozen over took out living room. She got a beautiful Elsa and Anna dress up. Complete with a tiara, shoes and pretty gloves. She has changed in and out of them probably 10 times a day.Addison loves to read and got a princess reader set that reads the stories aloud to her. Now while I'm in the shower she sits on my bed and goes through all of them. Grandma Michael sent her a Frozen pop up tent and tunnel. The girls giggled and chased each other in it all morning. The movie Sleeping Beauty make its way to our house as well. Dave was a good boy this year and a range finder made its way under the tree. Dave surprised me with a fitbit and a clarsonic. We enjoyed playing with everything together until Dave had to leave. Once we cleaned up I started making a Christmas Eve dinner to take up to the base to eat with Dave. We kept it simple since I had to load everything up. We tried to read Christ's birth story and talk about the reason for the season. Avery was all over the place and Addison was cranky. We put on the Joy to the World dvd that the church puts out. We almost got through all of it and I think that the girls got something from it. We've tried really hard to talk to them about baby Jesus and why we celebrate this holiday season. I have new goals for next year, but we are slowly starting our own family traditions. I felt kind of sorry for myself bringing the girls back alone and putting them to bed. Christmas morning felt weird since we had already celebrated. The girls and I got ready for the day and played with toys until Dave got home. We scooted down to my parents just in time for Christmas crepes and some cousin gifts. Addison painted special Christmas pictures for everyone. I feel very blessed to be able to see my family at this time of the year. We enjoyed a quiet Christmas day and evening with my family. Merry Christmas 2014!!

Photo Dump

My phone has almost 1000 photos and I need to get them on here! The girls are growing like weeds. I put away and pull out new clothes for Avery it seems like every month. Addison is into getting herself dressed in the morning before coming out. She likes to lay out her outfits complete with underwear and a bow before going to bed...I wonder where she got that habit from:) Both girls love to be right under my feet and on my back as I'm doing my makeup. More often than not someone ends up with something on their face. It drives me nuts, but I love it at the same time. Avery still loves her bottle and screaming EHHH every 5 seconds. I'm trying to teach her new words, but she's pretty satisfied with EHHH for everything. Addison uses about 2 feet of toilet paper and clogs the toilet pretty much daily. Avery likes to splash in the toilet water in every public bathroom we have to go in. Addison loves to turn on the Christmas tree is very good at reminding Avery not to touch the ornaments. Avery loves to ride the little tiger scooter around the kitchen. She legs barley touch the ground and it's so cute! Christmas is just around the corner and I haven't even blogged about Thanksgiving. We were able to go up to Michigan to stay with my Aunt Tania and Uncle Jim this year. I haven't been up there in over 10 years so it was nice to go. Addison loved seeing the horses and was able to ride Greta. Dave and I even got on her! Dave took Addison to put pennies on the train tracks which she loved. We ended the trip with going to the hands on museum. We got to celebrate Grammie's birthday at our house this year! It was so much fun planning and then having her close by to celebrate with. Addison is quite the party planner it turns out. She had picked several games that she had us play. From a balloon race to doing jumping jacks we all had a lot of fun. I made yummy sweet and sour chicken with a fluffy cherry cake to top it off. Grammie got to open fun gifts from the girls and all the siblings mailed gifts to our house. We love you Grammie and Happy Birthday!!