making cookies.

avery jo.

you are such an amazing kiddo and you keep your daddy, brother, and I laughing all the time. you are such an incredibly sweet, tough, stubborn, independent, momma’s girl stinker!!

if you do something you shouldn’t or something that hurts someone, you are quick to say “I’m sowwy mommy, bubba, daddy, etc” and give them a big hug.

you have really started to talk in the last few months and are figuring out how to put sentences together really well. I think you may have been doing it earlier but you were having a really rough go at teething a couple of months ago and I let you have your paci during the day meaning that you weren’t quite the chatterbox you have shown yourself to be!

you are still sleeping in your crib which I honestly can’t believe you haven’t climbed out of yet. I will keep you in there as long as you stay in…or your 3rd birthday…whichever comes first

in the last couple of weeks, you have started reading before bed. your crib is right next to your closet and you have discovered that you can reach the light switch from your bed. usually, when I put you down for bed or nap, you will stand up, turn on the light, and open your closet door {another new trick!}. you also ask to take the books that we read before bed into your crib with you so by the time I get into the living room and turn on your monitor, you are usually sitting in your bed “reading.” cracks us up! you do the same in the morning when you wake up which buys us a little time. when you are ready to go to sleep, you lay down, pull your covers up, and go to sleep. one of us then goes in and turns out the light so it doesn’t wake you up.

you are still very much a momma’s girl and have some crazy attachment to me all the time! usually, once I’m out of the house, you are ok but you tend to cry when I leave. I hate that for you but I’m hoping that soon you’ll realize that I always come back when I leave.

you will eat just about anything and you are still willing to try quite a bit. strangely enough, one of your favorite veggies is broccoli but you honestly love most of them. it’s nice not having to really worry about feeding you anywhere you go!

you crack us up because you can fall or hit your head, etc and usually, you’ll just pause for a second and then carry on. you are incredibly tough and not much slows you down!

you love your gymnastics classes and have the coaches wrapped around your finger! your favorite thing to do right now is coupe, step, coupe, step…

you love to do anything your brother is doing which is good and bad. neither of you has the sharing thing down so many times, there is a fight over some toy but I love that you guys love to be near each other.

you love, love mickey & minnie and could watch lion king on repeat 24.7 if we would let you!

you love animals but have a fondness for smaller dogs. you love your doggies but there’s something about the ones that are your size that you just love! 

you play so sweetly with your baby dolls, you will carry them around or push them in your stroller.  you will take them and undress them and try to change their diapers.  you will also say they are crying and try to soothe your babies by patting their backs.

you wear anywhere from 18 months – 3T and are wearing pullups. you like to “teetee potty” occasionally but it is by no means consistent. just like we did with your brother, we will wait until you are completely ready to start potty training but I wouldn’t be surprised if I was soon.

we love when we tell you “I love you!” and you say “I wove you too mommy/daddy/bubba”

you will walk up to clothes {or a doll, or a stuffed animal or a…} and in the cutest little voice imaginable, say “it’s so cuuuuute!” it cracks us up how you use it appropriately!

you have learned to throw some impressive fits and tend to run and find an alone place when you are upset about something. I’m sure this is the beginning of these fits but I love the fact that you are stubborn, independent, and can stand up for yourself!

we love, love you gorgeous girl & are so blessed to have you as our daughter! we can’t wait to see all the new things you learn in the next few months!!! <3

evan ray.

you are such a sweet, handsome, smart, sensitive, all boy, little big man  

we love, love the little boy that you are becoming and can’t believe that you are 3 1/2!!

you love your little sister but you are having a hard time sharing your space and toys with her. part of it is because she doesn’t quite understand sharing yet but you also love to take whatever it is she’s playing with just to make her mad.

you ask “why?” for EVERYTHING! I love that you are so curious about everything but even when I answer the why question, you ask again. this momma has caught herself saying “because I said so!” more times than I care for.

you are so incredibly sensitive and take everything so personally. you are at an age where there is so much to learn but if we have to correct you, we have to be very careful about how we do it. your little feelings get so hurt when you are told no. many times, I have had to stop and remind you that this is how you learn but it makes you {and me} so sad!

you constantly tell me that you don’t like my mad/mean face. usually this face comes out when you are not listening {which is a lot lately!}. it makes me laugh when you say this to me which is top notch parenting

you are so interested in letters and what they sound like and you are such a sponge when it comes to learning! you try to sound out any word you see, and can make out a few simpler words.  one day, we were playing with sidewalk chalk on the driveway and you randomly wrote your name! crazy! today, we were playing with the chalk on the gameroom wall and you asked how to spell my name..and then wrote it perfectly! I’m seriously amazed!! I pray that you grow to love reading as much as your daddy and i!

you are all boy! you love to rough house, hit, kick, etc at all times. I’m fairly certain your daddy and I have bruises everywhere thanks to our wrestling matches! we are working to curb your ‘boyness” into appropriate activities but love that you are such a stinky boy

you have become a somewhat picky eater – ugh! you have always been willing to try anything but lately, you will tell us you don’t like things {even if they were favorite thing yesterday}. every meal time seems like a struggle but I think it’s more you testing your boundaries than anything. the rule is that you must at least try everything on your plate and eventually, you do.

you are wearing a size 5 or 6 and I think you’ve just hit a growth spurt as many of the size 5 things we just bought you are a bit snug.

you are doing fairly well with the potty training although, since starting your new school, you have been having accidents there. we thought we had fixed the issue but lately, you have been having occasional accidents. I think you’re just having so much fun, you forget to go.

you are so happy and such an amazing little guy! we are in the middle of the test your boundaries stage which means that daddy and I constantly feel like we’re having to correct you but you don’t do it with a mean spirit. you are just learning what is ok and what isn’t.

you have basically given up your nap which is ok on most days but occasionally, you take a small power nap. you are sleeping in your big boy bed {converted crib} but we are hoping to update your room soon to a big boy room with a big, big boy bed.

you are so stinkin’ handsome and we are so in love with you! you are the best big brother to your sister and love her so much. we are the luckiest mommy & daddy to have you as our son!! we couldn’t be more proud of you and the little man you are becoming!

lunchdate.

“helping” with the christmas tree.

arkansas thanksgiving.

oh my goodness!! e & aj are traveling pros! we drove up to fayetteville wednesday evening because my cousin had just had her baby girl and we wanted to be able to eat as a family. we got into our hotel around 1230am after being in the car 11.5 hours…and the kids were amazing!!! there were more stops than normal but they didn’t complain at all {except one minor meltdown when the movie was turned off. miss thing didn’t like that one bit and proceeded to scream “I want the tb…ahhhhhh!!!”}!

thursday morning after breakfast, we headed over to kele & jonathan’s house to meet miss kenzie! she is super precious and we had fun chatting and letting the kiddos play! we attempted a group pic and they did great at first until evan decided he was done and just let go of kenzie stinker!

sorry for the quality…we forgot the camera so cell phone pics had to do!

we were high class this year and had our thanksgiving meal in the hotel’s conference room. it was actually perfect and the kiddos had plenty of room to run around.

yes, that’s a happy meal…no, that’s not what we all had

the men…or some of them…


the spread…

my cousin’s oven went out that morning so we had to improvise on warming up everything {my aunt had ordered everything and picked it up the day before}. we needed to heat the rolls and brian happened to spot a grill outside so our rolls were heated via grill this year…whatever works! miss avery enjoyed watching her daddy {or trying to escape…not sure which}!

the proud grandma {& nanny stealing her granddaughter}…

avery is OBSESSED with babies so this was perfect for her! here she is getting to meet miss rebecca ann…


evan also said hi to his newest cousin but he was considerably less interested…there were legos to build!

facetiming with james…not sure why we ended up on the floor but whatever…


we happened to look over and e man had grabbed himself a plate, gone to the pie, gotten a piece, and was getting himself some silverware without saying a word. mr. independent apparently!

oh, and a napkin too clearly!

after dinner, we packed up and headed down to my grandparents…4 hours away. luckily nap time helped but our kiddos were so good!!

when we got to grannie annie & papa keith’s, grannie annie brought out a bag full of disney books and the kiddos were in heaven!

vanpa & papa disappeared for a little bit and next thing we knew, the tractors were out & ready for action!

sister’s turn {she had just woken up from her nap}…

someone wanted his picture taken

he wanted me to take his picture running back and forth in the bed of vanpa’s truck…so I did



tractor switch!

evan was going napless one day when he asked nanny to read him a book. apparently he was a little too comfy because I looked over and saw this one minute…

this the next…

& then this…

brian and I left saturday morning to get to the aTm game and my parents hung out with the kiddos and visited some more before heading home that afternoon. we all met up in katy at their house around 1 in the morning after an aggie win and some serious driving!! so glad we were able to see everyone!!!