zen wednesday - no school

it has been a long while since i have updated the blog. it was a busy, exhausting month. the good news is that i got an unexpected day off in the middle of the week. we had ice storms last night and in to this morning. school was closed so i spent the whole day with avery.

we went out to play in the ice. it was not as cold as it looks. the sun was bright and the ice was melted by about noon. maverick was not too excited about the weather. avery had fun pulling the icicles off the edge of the table and fence. it was a low key day and i am thankful for that :)

i realize she looks like a marshmallow.

she was wearing about 3 layers and that jacket is size 4t.

here are some other things that have been going on this month...
avery started a new school. it is a child's garden montessori. she is really happy to go in the mornings. we got a note from the teacher that said avery is "social and independent." yup.


avery is potty training. kind of. she likes to sit on the potty, read books, flush, and wash her hands. we have not mastered the actual "going" potty yet. she tries.


besides having freezing days, we have had some 80 degree days too. ahh, texas.


avery's hair is long enough for pigtails. as long as she doesn't yank them out.

oh, and my excuse for why i am so tired and i can't seem to keep up with this blog, (or anything else) ...we are having another baby!!! i am 11 weeks along and due august 18. i am starting to get my energy back. avery turns 2 in may so they will be 27 months apart. we are so excited :)

Christmas morn

we went to fort worth to spend Christmas morning with my parents and chris, karon and annabelle. after breakfast we opened presents and then played dominoes. it was a good time!

avery and annabelle were jumping on the couch most of the day

avery made a plate for grandma

the girls helped grandpa open presents

i made tutus for avery and annabelle.
avery loved it and wore it to open her presents.

christmas continues

we spent the night at our own house on Christmas eve. even though we would be driving back to fort worth (again) the next day, we wanted avery to have some Christmas time at home.

we got in to our pj's and then we nestled all snug in our beds.



on Christmas morning avery was excited to see her new tricycle under the tree. she went straight for it and rode it a while before she noticed there were other presents to open, and by now she knows exactly how to do it.

so sleepy!

after playing with all of our new toys, we got dressed and headed over to grandma and grandpa's house for breakfast.

more to come!

on the fourth day of Christmas...

on Christmas eve, we celebrated with james' side of the family at his mom, lynda and clint's house. we were especially thankful that lynda was well. she had an emergency appendectomy on december 23 and was released from the hospital that night. taylor and gary came in early to help get everything ready and everyone pitched in with the cooking and wrapping of presents. it was a very special christmas and we were thankful to have everyone together.

christopher with his pile of presents!
(some of them are baby brother brandon's...he figured that out later!)

avery got some cute pj's and said "ooohhh, nice!"

baby brandon was checking out his new fish bowl.

avery and christopher being silly.

avery loves to play with her papa.

Christmas III

on sunday, the 21st we had Christmas with jenny and jeremy before they went to cleveland. it was over at my parent's house and chris and karon were there with annabelle.

annabelle knows how to party!

jenny and jer got some cute things for baby remington. 3 more months :)

that's right! jeremy got 2 hats...jealous???

avery says "i love me some me" as she passed out the avery 2009 calendar.

annabelle was good with the unicorn puppet. james, not so sure about it.

the one and only picture with santa...have you seen the line at the mall!?!


the christmas fun does not stop there...

christmas part 2

on december 20th, we celebrated Christmas with some good friends and all the kids. we are all connected through daycare and teaching. and i am so glad we have stayed in touch. the kids just love each other and get so excited to see one another.

we were at julianna's house (jennifer and greg) and everyone brought something to eat. there were more desserts than anything else so it was a good night!


emari is the youngest of the kiddos. she was almost a month old for our little party. avery was very interested in "aimee-baby."

julianna was giving hugs to avery and her baby sister sophia.

riley, kurtis, jake and avery...she is used to being one of the boys!


the kids had so much fun playing and running around, up and down the stairs while the dads watched the cowboy game. we had a great time! the kids drew names for presents and they were so sweet with thank-yous and hugs.


sophia, kurtis, jake, emari, wyatt, julianna, riley and avery...(we missed keesja and kiley...they were already out of town for Christmas)

Christmas celebrations

we have had an exciting Christmas season! avery has celebrated in many ways with different friends and family. we are so thankful for all the people in our lives that help us remember this joyous season.

on december 13, we celebrated Christmas with my cousins. it was at chris and katrena's house and we had fajitas and tamales. the little cousins exchanged presents and ran around and played. avery loves playing with annabelle and her big cousins madi, carson, tyler and bo. after we left avery was still saying "where bo go?" it was kind of catchy.

she got some super cute clothes and pink sparkly shoes. she loves them!

annabelle hanging out on the couch

katrena, tyler and carson watch as bo opens a star wars action figure

madi and avery are good buddies


MERRY CHRISTMAS... This is just the beginning :)