Sunday

After our weekly gym visit I took Av to the movies with a few friends. It was the first time I have taken Av to the movies. Grandma has taken her a few times and warned me that she eats a TON of popcorn but after she is done with the popcorn she is done with the movie. So I got a large popcorn and in we went with her friends. The theater was crowded so we all had to sit behind each other. We went with Caroline, Jackson S and Jackson W. We saw The Princess and the Frog. It was pretty cute and Av made it through the whole movie! Afterwards we met the dads and younger kids at a restaurant. Camille was not acting like herself. Just sitting on my lap. John tried to grab her and get her to play but just then she vomited everywhere. All over John and her new shoes. It was a big gross mess. We left money and Avery with Marci and got Camille out of there. It was weird though because she didn’t have a fever and she was pretty fine afterwards and the next day. I think it was just from 2 weeks of excitement and from all the extra drool she has from her teeth.

2 week holiday break

All week John and I got to be together with the girls. It was the best. Sunday we all went grocery shopping together after the gym. Monday we got up early to take Camille to school (she had school and we thought we would keep things as normal as possible for her) and to take Av to hbr. Avery did great and was glad to be back. She rode Charlie. Afterwards we took her to breakfast and ran some errands. We picked Camille up from school right as she was getting ready to nap at school (it was so cute to see her all curled up on her cot) so she could instead nap in her own bed. Tuesday we cleaned cleaned cleaned. We have not done a big cleaning purge since we moved into the house (4.5 years ago). We took 2 jeep loads to Goodwill. Lots of clothes, shoes and baby toys. It feels so good to have less clutter in the house. I am going to try so hard to keep it that way. That night we went to dinner and then to the Louisville science center with the Hoekstra’s. Avery’s school won a grant from the science center and so they started having family nights once a month and so we decided to take advantage of that. John’s 3 siblings as well as Opa and Shelly went with us. It was really a good time. Camille has just learned to go down stairs on her belly so she mainly enjoyed the stairs. It’s pretty funny she sits down and gets on her belly about 10 feet from the top of the steps and slithers backwards until she hits the steps. Cute to watch. She is also obsessed with standing on things. She climbs up and then stands on EVERTHING she can but I guess that’s a topic for another post. Wednesday Camille went back to school and by then Av was dying to see a friend so we went out to see Caroline. John stayed home and cleaned some more. Thursday G&PP were there. We just hung out during the day and that night John and I went out with a bunch of friends. We had a great time. It is so nice of G&PP to come watch the girls for use every NYE!

slumber party

The day after Christmas we drove home. The girls were great. We only stopped for gas once. We were home in record time and we were all glad to be home. We had a sitter that night because it was the 14th annual chili cook-off!! My favorite event. Hehehe it was fun though. All John’s friends come in for it ever year. Marci and Brent were also out that night so we met up with them for a bit. We shared a sitter with them so we all went back to our house for a big slumber party. John’s friends Jeff and Matt came back to the house as well. None of the boys got to sleep in like they wanted with 4 kids running around. Hehehe

Christmas

Avery was very excited this year. I think this was the first year she really got it. We had an advent calendar leading up to it and every day she asked if it was time yet. It had M&M’s in it so I made her wait until the afternoon for it. On Christmas Eve John and Av spent a lot of time getting the cookies, milk and sugar (for the reindeer) ready and talking about Santa and his reindeer. She was so excited. She smiled and took pictures with each of us. Here are a few pictures of what Santa brought them this year. Christmas morning they were up kind of early but I don’t think it was because they were excited. We were able to keep them back in their room for a bit until Suzanne and Matt could get over to the house. I think they forgot but once we reminded them they were ready to go. Seeing the excitement in their eyes is the greatest gift in the world. My mom loved her new ring we all got her and my dad loved the GPS and camera. We are truly blessed and very thankful.

Christmas week

The Friday before Christmas we celebrated the holidays with our good friends Marci, Brent, Jackson and Stella. They were our neighbors before they left us. Heheheh Marci and the kids came over about 4 and soon after that the dads joined us. We exchanged little gifts and then walked to our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was a very nice night. The next night was our Christmas with the Hoekstra’s. We all met at a restaurant and had a yummy dinner and then headed back to John’s dad’s house for dessert and a gift exchange. That started the spoiling of the girls for this season. They got a sled and some snow fort making blocks (kind of like buckets for the snow) books, clothes and lots of other stuff. Nana gave Avery a doll that was hers. Her name is Mary Ann and she is around 53 years old. Av LOVES it. Mary Ann pretty much goes where Av does. Mary Ann is very heavy (sometimes Av has a hard time carrying her) and life-like. A lot of time out of the corner of my eye I will think its Camille. Hehhehehe It was a very special present. On Sunday the girls and I got up and started our drive to WV. It went pretty well. My parents met us half way and after that Camille was kind of fussy and didn’t want to be in her car seat but we made it. It was exactly the week I was wanting. Good times with family. We saw both sides of my parent’s families in Pittsburg. It was great to see cousins and aunts and uncles that I had not see in a long time. On my dad’s side my cousins have kids that Avery fit right in with and played with them like she plays with them all the time. It’s really nice to see her start to come out of her shell. We also went to the Pittsburg science center, which both girls (and the adults) loved.

thankful

The holiday season was so nice this year. We are a very lucky and blessed family and I am just so thankful for each and every one of them. We had Christmas with the Hoekstra’s, the Werner’s, the Welsh’s and then our little family of 8. My girls got to spend so much time this year with G&PP. They have a very special relationship. John and I got a lot of time together this year as well. We both had 2 weeks off of work. It was pretty amazing. Not that we really needed to re-connect but we did. We saw lots of friends too that we don’t get to see enough. It really was a special holiday season.

"teeth are not for biting"

people that is.....Camille didn’t bite anyone at school on Monday. Actually she has not bitten again since Sunday. Monday morning I told her teachers that she was starting to bite. I told them if they heard a mad/frustrated scream to get to her quickly. Miss Julie said she heard it once and just looked up and said “Camille No!” and that did the trick. Miss Julie said that it may happen but not as likely to happen at school as much as it would happen at home because Camille does not play as close to the kids there as she would play with her sister at home. Makes sense. They read the book “Teeth are not for biting” during circle time. Not sure if it sunk in at all but it’s still very sweet of them to do.