Avery and Sawyer

Want to hear the latest on Avery and Sawyer?

Avery is a champion talker now. She can sing "Happy Birthday," "5 Little Monkeys," "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," "Baa Baa Black Sheep," "ABC's," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," "Wheels on the Bus," and "Where is Thumbkin."

Thanks to my parents trampoline she can now jump and consistently catch air. She kicks soccer balls, searches for frogs in the grass, and is dominating the Summer Reading Program offered by our library. Plus she has gone to nursery by herself the last two Sundays.

And Sawyer is growing up so well! See this eczema on his chin? It is now gone! After lots of different creams and doctors appointments, we finally got that bad boy to disappear (referring to the eczema, not Sawyer. Sawyer is sticking around for awhile.)



He also weathered his first really bad cold. See how his face and shirt are glistening in this picture? There's all types of bodily fluids documented here.  

This little man now has 6 teeth, all of which came in during the last 3 weeks. He finally warmed up to baby food, especially green beans and peas. Plus, he is a champion army scooter. I don't think I can call it a crawl because his knees aren't involved, but Sawyer can push himself across the room with one leg propelling him forward (he just drags the other leg along)

Lastly, and most importantly, Sawyer is finally sleeping through the night! After 8 months of the finickiest sleep, Sawyer consistently sleeps for 11 hours straight. It has been a glorious week!

As I've mentioned before, having both these kiddos has completely rocked my world. But after 8 months of being double teamed, I think I am starting to come out on top.

And that makes life all the better.

Happy Birthday Avery!

See this girl? She is a legit two year old now!

We began her birthday with singing Happy Birthday as we threw balloons in her pack n' play and played with the streamers on her door. It was a perfect way for a little kid to wake up.

She was a pro at opening her presents. She would wait patiently until you handed her a gift, say "Thank you," unwrap it, and then say "Wow." Made the giver feel like a million bucks!

We then headed to Thrune Park to celebrate her big day.

Kyle waxed creative and made her a cute sign from the playground equpiment.

Kelsey made chalk drawings of all of us.

Avery

Me

Kyle

Kelsey

I blew bubbles.

And Avery learned how to operate the splash pad.

She had never been to a water park before.

And it was a hit!

My favorite part was her zombie arms when she walked through the fountain.

Sure there were tunnels to run through,

giant animals to look at,

pinwheels to be spun,

those weird towers you can throw balls at,

reflective balls cemented to the ground,

and green nature to enjoy,

but none of it could compete with the water.

Avery would get her feet involved,

her hands,

and even her mouth!

Then we headed home to celebrate with family.

I don't think I have ever decorated a cake before, but I wanted to try my hand at it.

So with a couple of ping pong balls, half an Easter egg, Oreos, and a TON of red dye I made an Elmo cake.

It worked perfectly for Avery to blow out her candles. She was so delighted by the whole experience of having Happy Birthday sung to her and getting to blow out candles, she asked us to do it again immediately afterwards. And of course, we obliged.

And like all good things, her birthday came to an end and we called it a wrap.

We love you Avery! You are supremely awesome to us!

Alpha Race

To kick off the month of June Kyle, my two younger siblings, and I ran the Alpha Race.

"What's an Alpha Race?" you might ask. Let me break it down for you.

We ran at 10:30 PM (hence the fashionable head lamps) through a forest for over 4 miles. That takes care of the "race" part in Alpha Race.

The Alpha part is the 10 obstacles you conquer amidst it. We are talking climbing cargo nets, army crawling through 25 feet of mud, scaling 8 foot wood walls, running through tires, a 12 foot rope climb, and a 200 foot water slide at the end.

It was hilarious, tough, dirty, wonderful, and unforgettable. What more could you ask for from a race?

Plus finishing 5th in the Women's category never hurts the ego either. ;)

Happy Father's Day

Kyle is a man of many wonderful qualities.

And being a ridiculously awesome Dad is at the top of the list.
 

Happy Father's Day Kyle!

To My Beloved Zoo

After I posted our good-bye to Indianapolis, I felt like I couldn't quite move on yet.

And then it hit me.

I hadn't given a proper farewell to the Indianapolis Zoo.

So here I go. (Side note: All of the following pictures have been taken at this zoo)

This zoo is absolutely, hands down, undoubtedly my favorite place in Indianapolis...quite possibly in the entire world.

This is where my family has come for the last 2 years to celebrate...well...pretty much everything.

 

The first time we ever came here, Avery was 3 months old.

And we've watched this baby elephant grow along with our daughter (they were born a month apart.)

Then:

 

And a year and a half later:

It's been our date night.

It's where I would walk mile after mile trying to go into labor with this guy.

It's where Avery learned her animal noises.

It's where we pet our first (and probably only) shark.

It's where Kyle met the muntjak, which became his favorite animal.

It's where I furthered my love of rhinoceroses.

We've celebrated Halloween here.

We've celebrated Christmas here.

We've watched the zoo grow and change.

We watched this aviary get built.

We saw many a dog show in this new arena.

We even got a butterfly house.

But most importantly, this is where my family has grown and changed.

It's where we've spent time together with no distractions.

It's where Avery learned to splash in puddles.

It's where Sawyer embraced being in a floral stroller.

 It's where Avery gave her first kiss to someone outside of our family.

It's where Sawyer learned about sea life.

It's where my kids learned how to take naps outside of their cribs.

It's where I switched from carrying this girl around

to carrying this boy around.

Which helped this little girl learn how to walk holding our hands.

It's where they my kids enjoyed being outside together.

So even if my love for this place is a bit extreme, I can't help but want to thank it for being the most perfect place to my family!

You will be missed dearly!