15 Weeks Pregnant!

Christmas Season!

We had a very eventful holiday season here! Well, not here completely. We had to go to Grand Rapids to visit family of course. We had five Christmas's in three days. That is packed! Oddly enough though, no one had snow except for us! And we only had a dusting. Crazy Michigan weather!

Here's our living room all decked out for Christmas!

Keith's holiday photo.

 My beautiful kids.

Avalyn's holiday photo. She's giving a toy reindeer a kiss - she has no idea that she decapitated it.

My reindeer is dead!

Sugar cookies decorated by Keith.

Christmas morning! Well the morning of the 23rd... Keith wasn't with us on Christmas day.

Game boy color! Woot!

Games!

Avalyn kissing her new baby.

This lens is my new toy. Ha!

Aren't they a hoot?

Someone likes her ball pit!

Daddy likes it, too.

Christmas party that night at Matt's parent's house. This is cousin Alyssa wearing the outfit I made for her. Her mom, Val, loves Sponge Bob, so this is really for her. ;)

Avalyn rocking her new cowgirl hat and boots from Nana.

Avalyn says: You know, Alyssa, your ensemble is missing something...

Avalyn: *Thunk* Try my hat!
Alyssa: You're right, it's perfect!

 This is Val the Sheep. With Baby Alyssa Lamb on top of her. They are also ready for the holidays. Matt's dad loves sheep, and Val found the big sheep for him, so she was named in her honor. And of course the baby is named in Alyssa's honor. :)

She would probably fit in pretty well in Texas.

This is the best picture I could get of them. Toddlers really don't like to sit still!

My Dad and Avalyn at their Christmas party bunch the next day.

Keith showing off his sweatshirt Grandma (my mom) made for him.

Matt got a bunch of pegs for his board in the garage. Of course he loves them.

Mack (the dog) got a ball from Grandpa and Grandma. All the pictures I took of him opening the wrapped up  ball are blurry, but it was pretty funny to watch.

The tool kit Matt has wanted for years. Lucky guy!

Avalyn trying on her new pretty shoes from Grandma and Grandpa.

Clearly she needs some practice walking in them!

Playing peek-a-boo with Grandma, and wearing the coat Grandma made her.

Christmas day, Aunt Mary was trying to help Avalyn put Santa's hat on her new elephant.

It's Evan! He loves Christmas! ;)

We went home after this and got some much needed rest in our own bed. Avalyn still loves her ball pit and is enjoying all of the gifts she got for Christmas. We're enjoying our gifts, too. I got a fancy new coat! Yey winter! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Milestone Update

I haven't done one of these since October!

New words/phrases:

64. Yes
65. Horsie
66. "Oh no!"
67. "Thank you!"
68. Please
69. Santa
70. Boot
71. Calliou
72. Star
73. Potty
74. Poo-poo
75. Sock
76. Coat
77. Sun
78. Apple
79. Orange
80. "Fruit Loop"
81. Train
82. Pants
83. Pizza
84. Clue
85. Paw
86. Mail
87. Okay
88. "I love you"
89. Help
90. Dance
91. Slide
92. Cookie
93. Cracker
94. One
95. Two
96. Three
97. Wipe
98. Box
99. Back
100. Cheek






October 31 - Avalyn's second Halloween - went trick or treating for the first time. :)
November 3 - Avalyn sings with the "lalala's" on Sesame Street.
November 4-5 - Up all night when five teeth broke through at once. Three molars and two incisors.
November 10 - Hailed today and Avalyn went to play in it (it was very small and she loved it!)
November 16 - Avalyn sings with the Caillou theme song
November 16 - Puts on mommy's shoes and dances around the house
November 17 - Avalyn's first ice storm - dangerous roads!!
November 17 - Pretend plays with mommy. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep then "woke up" and attacked me. She also pretends to feed her doll and makes smacking sounds when she drinks, she also pretends to eat imaginary food from her plates and cups.
November 17 - Says "I love you" to daddy for the first time
November 22 - Climbed into her toy box and "hid" from mommy and laughed when mommy couldn't find her. ;)
November 23 - Went to Jenison to see Grandpa and Grandma
November 24 - Went to Midland for Thanksgiving
November 25 - Back in Jenison to hang out with Grandpa and Grandma - counts to 3!
November 26-27 - Visit with Nana and Papa in Middleville
December 1 - Mommy gets food poisoning and Daddy had to watch Avalyn all day (he even cleaned a poopy diaper)
December 3 - Avalyn sings her own version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. ""Mama... mommy star... babababababa skyyyy!"
December 5 - Keith hits Avalyn
December 12 - Avalyn fell asleep all by herself at nap time. What a big girl!

Santa Baby!

We went to the mall today to get the kids picture taken with Santa. I did not have high hopes for this excursion. Avalyn has had major stranger anxiety since November of last year and while it's gotten better, it certainly isn't gone. In April we managed to get her to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap and smile, but the bunny was a giant stuffed animal (she had no clue there was a human person under there), and stuffed animals are awesome! But Santa? Santa is a man, a real human man. A real human man that Avalyn has never ever met. So while she was calling the stuffed reindeer "horsies" and waving to Santa happily, I knew as soon as it was our turn Keith would flash his fake smile and Avalyn would scream loud enough for everyone in the mall to think there was a fire.

Here's the outcome:

Oh dear. And Avalyn was clinging to me for the rest of our little trip to the big, scary mall.

Maybe next year she'll want to be a "big girl" for her baby brother or sister and smile with Santa. We'll see.