A Girl And A Party

So last night Avery had her birthday party. She had 9 friends come over for a "late over." So from 5:30 to 8 Jared and I had 10 girls and two boys on our hands! Ave wanted a Hello Kitty party so off to the party store we went. An hour later we were home with a ton of balloons, decorations, treat bag goodies, and cake and ice cream. Since the party didn't start till 5:30 Avery was asking every 30 min. when her friends were going to be here, she was sooooo excited. So to keep her hands busy she played with some of her balloons while she waited. It was finally 5:30 and her friends started to show up. Everybody came in their pajamas since it was a late over. Jared went and got pizza so we could feed these hungry little monkeys! After that we played one of Avery's favorite games, freeze dance! They were so cute dancing all over the place.
Freeze Dance Video


Next it was time for cake and ice cream!







Next we were off playing "Stick the flower on the Hello Kitty poster." It was so funny to watch these girls talk about how they were going to remember where the "spot" was to stick their flower!





Time for presents! I don't know who was more excited, Avery, or the girls watching! They were all so cute!!!






Liam was not sure about the party hat, he kept tying to look up at it!



For the last half hour they all watched Thumbalina and I made caramel corn. I hope they all had fun because I know my kids did! They were all so cute, I can only hope that Avery will have such amazing friends where ever we go next!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVE!!!!!!!

A Day At The Park........Finally!

Today was such a beautiful day. It's in the mid 50's with a little breeze, perfect for a day out! The kids had so much fun and were running to the park before I even stepped out of the van. They ran from toy to toy laughing and smiling the whole time. I think they could have stayed there all day.

Lincoln

The other day Linc got out of the shower and was freezing so he decided to jump in my bed. He was so cute all cuddled up in the blankets I had to take some pictures. This kid has a million looks!

An Update

So much has been going on, and so many of you have been asking "what's next" that I thought an "update" post was needed.
We were able to go home for Christmas and had a great time. I left my beloved camera of 5 years with all of our memories on it there :( I will do a Christmas post later when I get my camera back. If you know me then you know that I can't be without a camera or I go crazy!!! I feel like I miss out on so much and I did. But, thanks to my sweet husband and some birthday money I was able to get a new camera, woo hoo!!!! I am so excited about this camera, I got a Nikon D70s and am having a fun time learning how to use this awesome camera and all the bells and whistles. I still love my Nikon coolpix, plus it has the video option that the new one does not.
Anyway, on with the update :0)

Jared is finishing up the interviewing process and we are excited to get him back. We turn in our rank list next month and then in March we find out where we will be for the next four years. He is also in his emergency medicine rotation and works weird hours, but we are just happy to have him in the same state as us. He is such a hard worker and loves what he does. He is also cub scout master and is actually very good at it. Jared also does most of the laundry when he is home. He is not allowed to do color loads though unless he runs it by me. I have lost way too many pieces of clothing to his mad laundry skills. He always helps me out when I need him and never complains when I hand him Liam for the third time in a row to empty him :0) He is an amazing man.

Jared and Liam watching Saturday football together.


Avery is still loving kindergarten. She is starting to read and brings home books from her school library once a week and we sit and read them at night. She still LOVES to wear dresses and anything "fancy". She is such a big help with Liam and loves to play with him. She is my artist and is constantly making things and drawing and coloring. She turned 6 this month and I did not have a camera at that time to capture it :( Oh well, I'm sure Ill make up for lost time with my new CAMERA!!! ok sorry, I got excited all over again.

Avery cheering Liam on as he learns how to crawl!


Those of you who know Ave well, know that she is a chocolate LOVER to the max! I love this picture. I had no idea she had chocolate hanging out of her mouth.




Avery doing her art thing that Linc got for her for her birthday. Notice the chocolate icecream left over on her face!


Lincoln is growing up sooo fast. He is still in preschool and is learning so much. Lincoln LOVES trains!!! He will honestly sit for 1 to 2 hours just watching them go around and around. He got some Thomas The Train sets for Christmas and when we got home from Utah, at 1:30 a.m., Lincoln ran upstairs to play with his trains. He loves playing batman with his friends. My sister in law got him a super hero cape with batman on one side and superman on the other. He does everything but take a bath with this thing. He loves to be with Jared and wrestle with him. If he wakes up before him he goes in and jumps on him. He is so sweet to Liam and is a sport when, "baby kong" as we like to call him, comes over to play trains as well.

This boy LOVES his dad! If Jared is having a meat and cheese sandwich with mustard, Lincoln is having the same thing.







Liam is CRAWLING!!!!!! He started crawling last week and is so happy that he can move! I totally cried, I am such a baby. The PT (physical therapist) had set a goal that they hoped he would crawl by 18 months. He is such an amazing little guy. He now wants to walk and gets so frustrated, poor baby. He has his Physical Therapist, Jen, that comes to our house every Wednsday and works with him. She is so good with Liam and he loves her. She has taught all of us how to help Liam move. We are all done with surgery's, knock on wood, till he is about 5. He is so happy and has the best smile ever! He is starting to want more food than bottle now and trying to find things that he likes is a bit of a challenge. But when we do find something, watch out or he will bite your fingers trying to get it. He loves to feed himself and the floor! He is standing well, but only for about 30 seconds to a minute at a time. He just needs to strengthen those hips of his. He is still such a snuggler and I love it. I find myself holding him all the time because I can't get enough of him.

Icecream with dad


Liam point to everything and says "sthat" it is the cutest thing ever!



Liam with Jen, his PT.



I love this kids smile! When he gets excited about something he moves his hands and his feet and smiles and laughs, he is doing this in the middle picture.




Linzie - I am loving the idea of getting a house with a yard, hopefully. My days a full of cleaning, cooking, laundry that is quickly taking over our room, and poop. Between Liam's colostomy bag coming off and wiping Lincoln's butt, sorry I'm sure that was too much information so I'll just stop there. I am finding my hands full to say the least, but we are in good health and Liam is doing awesome. I am having a ton of fun with my new camera and learning how to use it. Which is turning into a very time consuming project on its own. Thank goodness for my sister who is an awesome photographer for letting me call her and ask a million questions, I love ya sis! I am still teaching preschool with four other mothers for Lincoln and their boys, I am Lincolns sunbeam teacher, way fun, and if Jared is home Tuesday or Thursday nights I go to the community center and play volley ball. I have fallen in love with Virginia just not the cost of living here and would stay if it were lower. I have no pictures of myself since I am the one always taking them. The ones I do have are on my other camera so Ill post more when I get it.