Gingerbread House

After seeing so many of you enjoying lovely holiday projects with your kids, I decided to do one too! Avery and I tackled the decoration of a gingerbread house! I had a good time doing this with her and she was a great help-as much as a 2 year old can be anyway:)!! Really, she had more fun playing with the candy that was in a bowl rather than using it to decorate! It was a great craft to do together and I think it will be a nice tradition that Avery and I can do every year-maybe Spencer will even join in the fun next year!!

Our finished project...it has lost a candy dot, courtesy of one Miss Avery Kay:)

A birds eye view the house. I had gotten the kit out last night and Avery was so excited. Artie and I told her I'd do it with her in the morning and when she got up this morning, she ran out to the kitchen exclaiming she was going to put the gingerbread house together with mommy-ah, it was such a wonderful moment:) Nothing beats spending that amazing time with your kids. They are memories made forever!! Thanks guys for the motivation I needed to enjoy this magical holiday time with my little one:)

And not to be forgotten, Mr. Spencer was our supervisor for the gingerbread house decorating! He was wonderful in his exersaucer the entire time (and it took a while!). Excuse the pink bib...it's what happens when you have hand me down girls stuff from a certain big sister-poor Spencer!

A boy and his dog. Spencer is getting more and more mobile. If he sees something he wants, he finds any way to get to it! He isn't quite crawling yet, but he rolls, scooches, turns, pulls and pushes himself where ever he wants to go:)

I know this is pathetic, but we have our tree up and it's not decorated yet:( With me doing class work and Artie working a bit more than usual getting ready for the end of the year (it's an accounting thing) we just haven't had enough hours in the day! So we did manage to get the tree put up-yes it's scrawny looking because it's the tree Artie and I had in our tiny apartment before we had a house-we found that all of our lights from last year don't work. So we're waiting to get more this weekend to finally decorate the tree-which Avery is dying to do!! Anyway, Avery knocked it down and what did she do to fix it?? Grab hammer Pat, of course:)

She went right to work trying to "fix" the tree:) Pat, the hammer, by the way is from Handy Manny on Disney which Avery adores. She goes around the house 'fixing' everything!

We made chocolate chip cookies one night this week and this is the result of our little taste tester! She is an absolute choc-a-holic! She gets that from her dad-for sure (true story, Artie's the real chocolate lover in our house and now he has a buddy to share with)!!

This is what Avery does every morning from 10:30-11:00 am when Little Einsteins is on. She even got a hold of a glow stick the other day and used it like the wand that Leo uses in the show and went around going on "missions". She is definitely obsessed with patting and clapping after this show!

Just thought I'd put this picture up because Avery is becoming quite the eater when it comes to sandwiches these days. However, if it's turkey sandwiches, she takes all the meat off. But, for peanut butter and nutella sandwiches, she will devour the whole thing!!

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week! The family (minus Artie) is headed down to Indy early Friday morning to pick Jake up from the airport...can't wait!!

Rough Start

As you all know, my little brother, Jake, left for basic training in the Army about a month ago. I had posted a while ago that he was pretty sick. Well, his rough start in the military has continued. I just briefly talked with him this morning and it has gotten even worse. Jake's respiratory infection has progressed into bilateral (or double) pneumonia. After blacking out in front of drill sgts in the barracks, he was sent to the infirmary (after they screamed at him for not getting up before realizing it was serious-it's their job, of course!). There, they discovered he was extremely dehydrated and had a fever over 104. They wanted to transport him to the hospital right away for the fever, but they were able to get it under control and ended up keeping him for 72 hours (not sure of the details, but I imagine they gave him some IV fluids and possibly antibiotics). He was just released back to his platoon last night. He's alert, but still sounds very foggy. Obviously, we are very concerned about him. They (the soldiers) have their gas chamber test tomorrow, so we are very worried about how his lungs will handle that. Thankfully, his flight gets in to Indy on Friday morning for his two week visit for Christmas-we can't wait! I know it's a busy time of year, but if you could keep Jake in your thoughts for a safe return home and that he can get better soon! He's truly such a fighter and trying so hard not to let

being sick get in the way of what he's supposed to be doing there. We are so proud of you:)

Not sure why these are so small, but they are the first pics Jake sent from basic (thank goodness for modern technology!)

He kind of looks like a little puppy here! This is one of his new 'do.

Obviously, he took this himself...Jake in his full combat uniform.

Jake and I at a wedding in October, a month before he left.

And, of course, a few of the kiddies from the last few days.
Avery was so proud of herself, though she doesn't look like it in this pic, of putting the hats and feet on her potato heads!! She is getting to be such a big girl and wanting to do more and more by herself everyday!

Whenever I get the camera out, Avery now asks to have her picture taken, starts to say cheese and makes this face! I am absolutely loving this phase-much better than constantly turning away from the camera! Notice how much static is in her hair-darn the dry air during the winter!

My little Spencie Cole. This guy is 100% determined to crawl! Since this picture (which was just 2 days ago), he can now actually get all the way up on his hands, not just his elbows!!

Another "cheese" face:) This one isn't as wide-eyed as the other since she had just gotten up, but still a smile!!

A few videos of Spencer working on crawling. The first one, I just thought was cute because Avery was really loving on her brother and then Domer comes to check him out. But mostly, he works on his Superman. In the second, he is up and rocking, like he likes to do. Now though, he rocks and kind of lunges himself forward. He's also very good at just turning himself all around and just this morning, actually moved an arm and a leg in coordination! He will be 7 months one week from today and that's almost exactly when Avery first crawled!! I really wish he wasn't moving so fast, but am really enjoying watching him try:)!

A Snowy Night

The flu has hit our house this week. Artie and Avery had it first on Sunday and then I was lucky #3 on Tuesday. Artie and I never were able to get our flu shots this year because of the huge scare, our doctor never had any available. Avery had the flu mist for the first time at her 2 yr check up (she was already getting shots so we didn't want to give her another if she could have the mist) and Spencer had his flu shot at his 6 month visit. Well, we think that possibly the mist was not very effective for Avery and that she maybe didn't get the full benefit of it because it wasn't completely inhaled, thus, she was able to catch this flu bug. Spencer is still hanging on resisting it, but he has been so fussy and having trouble sleeping the last few days. His flu shot was supposed to take 3 weeks for complete immunity, it had only been 2. So, we will see what happens. Ugh. I have to say, having a house full of sick people-especially right before Christmas is not the merriest of things. Also, when you're a stay-at-home mom and your sick, you can't exactly take a sick day. At least I was my absolute sickest in the hours after Artie was home from work.

So, while I was reeling with stomach pain Tuesday night, we got our first snow. It came quickly and was gone by the next morning. After Avery had her bath that night and saw all the snow falling, she got so excited and wanted to go out and play. Artie, not being able to resist his daughter, got her bundled up-with jammies already on-and took her outside for a few minutes to enjoy the white stuff!

Looking so cute in all her purple and pink glory!

I love this one, the snow flakes look like little sparkly flecks in the flash of the camera. Magical:)

Here's my Spencer all bundled up in his new hat and coat-the kid's growing like a monster and already on hat and coat #2 of this winter season!

A few others from the week...
My mom's new puppy, Captain Jack. He loved Avery, she was just his size-for now! They adopted him from the shelter and he's the softest, cutest little thing! Which, if you're looking for some place to donate to this holiday season (or any time of the year) check with your local animal shelter. They are always in need of towels, blankets, toys, sheets, etc. Even if you just have some old sheets, blankets or towels around your house, don't just throw them away, take them to the shelter:)

My daughter's first experience with curlers:) Honestly, she loves putting these in her hair and playing with them so I decided to really put them in her hair to give her some volume for her pictures last week! It worked, I kept them in until we got to the picture place (they are just velcro rollers) and the cold air didn't have a change to flatten her hair (until pics were done anyway)!

Happy Weekend!

Entrepreneurs

Just a little shout out to a few of the entrepreneurs I know. Without people willing to take a risk with their ideas, we would never have so many of the things that make our lives easier and more fun!! Check them out!!

My stepdad, Tom, has been working on this for a long time, hopefully it takes off soon because it's a great idea! Here's the website for the lift.

A dear SMC friend of mine, and fellow stay-at-home mom, Christine has started her own scrapbooking endeavor. Check out her blog Memories by Christine!

Photo Shoot

Tonight we took the kids to get their 6 month and 2 year pictures taken. Lesson learned, we will never be doing both at the same time! I am nothing short of absolutely exhausted. Spencer was excellent. Avery just wanted to run all over the place. We were trying to pick all the pictures we were going to get and I had to corral Avery constantly. The place was packed with families getting Christmas pictures. Despite the anxiety (and my tearful breakdown in the aftermath of what I deemed a night showcasing just how terrible my parenting skills are), we got amazing shots of the kids! They are pretty darn cute, enjoy!

Christmas and I are like this *fingers crossed* now

Well, I'm happy to report that Christmas and I are back on track:) I got my Christmas present a little early this year via Spencer's echo results! As you know, last week he had an echo to check on his PFO (the valve in the heart that allows a baby to 'breathe' inside the womb, it should close when the baby takes it's first breath, Spencer's did not). We knew that it was still there by what the tech saw, but we waited an agonizing week to hear how the size of the valve opening compared to when he was in the hospital. The great news is that his PFO has gotten smaller! It is so small that the murmur can no longer even be heard:) The belief is that this valve will be closed, on it's own, by the time Spencer turns 1! There is such relief from hearing these results. I don't want to get too excited, but at least we are going in the right direction and it's getting smaller versus no change at all! Christmas is starting to find it's way around our house. Some decorations have made their way out and Avery even stayed up a little late tonight to watch Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas (some of it anyway, it was on until 9:30! Thank goodness it will be on again Sunday for Avery to catch the rest)!!

Now for just a few pictures of the kids from bath time tonight...

I absolutely love seeing Spencer in this ducky tub that Avery once loved so much...and apparently, she still does! She announced to daddy that "Avie want to get in" and in she climbed. Avery is completely obsessed with cooking and does it most of her bath time. Since Spencer had a bath tonight too, she was very excited she had someone "feed"!!

My little guy in his Elmo towel:) I swear he has the biggest blue eyes ever!!

My little cooking princess:) She actually gave me a really big cheese in her ducky towel!

I cannot count my blessings enough for these two amazing children:)!!

A wonderful gift

Make that two wonderful gifts I have this holiday season! I know my last post was sort of a bummer-that's what happens when you're just in 'that' mood. Last week was rough. My mom's dog was suddenly gone, we had the first taste of what holidays will be like without my little brother (though we couldn't be more proud of him), and Spencer had his ECHO last week which showed that his PFO is still present (which is probably what really brought about my mood). Since there was a holiday last week, we still haven't heard the actual results from the ECHO. We are only hoping right now that there has at least been some improvement and that it is at least starting to close on its own. Hopefully, we'll hear this week because I'm going nuts worrying about it! Anyway, I have decided to focus all of my energy on the beautiful family that I am blessed to have. My kids amaze me with something new everyday and I couldn't be more thankful for that! One of the most awesome things about my kids is seeing them together. Avery is absolutely the most wonderful big sister and Spencer looks up to her so much (both figuratively and literally!).

After bath time...can you believe the jammies Spencer is sporting are the very same ones Avery wore just last winter??!! He is growing too fast!

Avery was showing Spencer how to color (Aunt Beth and Uncle Dave, she is obsessed with this gift from you!).

Moments before I took this picture, Avery was holding Spencer's hand. It was the most incredibly sweetest thing ever! I am so lucky!!