So Proud

Riley has also hit several milestones that I have yet to update on here. He is becoming more of a little boy & less of a toddler every single day. People usually think he’s about 4 years old, mainly because he is tall but also because his verbal skills are so great. He talks in complete sentences most of the time & is sharp as a tack! He can say & identify all of the letters of the alphabet along with a few numbers. He can now count to 20. I guess our next step is to start up to 25. He is working on spelling his name & knows what sound a few letters make. He knows the S sound the best.

He has excellent fine motor skills. My future engineer loves building things with Legos, working puzzles, and coloring. Absolutely loves to color & draw. He likes to trace his hand with the crayons now too. We still can’t quite figure out if he is left or right-handed though. He eats & draws with his right hand, but throws a ball with his left.

His newest sayings are “I want two of them please.” And “I did that two times.” Regardless of what he is talking about, it’s always “two”. Now where he is getting these “two” references from, we have no idea, but it cracks me up.

Most of all I have really enjoyed watching his imagination blossom. He is playing more on his own with his toys, making them talk to each other and role playing so much lately. Just last night he told us that he was the Cat in the Hat, I was Thing 2, Averly was the fish in the pot, and my mom was the mother coming home (if you’ve ever read the Cat in the Hat, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If not, these are some of the characters in that book.) TAG was still at work so I guess that’s why he didn’t get a role! Anyway, he is learning how to pretend & act like different characters/people
.
I love so much that he is learning everyday! This little boy makes me so proud!



But no matter how big he gets, this sweet boy will always be my baby!

So much to catch up on

Averly has been doing so much new stuff lately & I just haven’t had time to update. She is growing up before my eyes! We just had her 9 month check-up on Friday, but she is practically 10 months now. She weighed 24 pounds, 7 ounces & was 30.4 inches long. My little big Sugar Plum! We left the doctor with a healthy report, most importantly.



She has been walking for a month now but she has recently gotten so good at it! She will walk around the entire house & follow Riley around. They play so well together. It warms my heart to see these two having so much fun with each other.

This video is a couple weeks old so you can only imagine how fast she is now!

Averly loves music. Anytime she hears it, she starts clapping & dancing! Her absolute favorite song is the Hot Dog song from Mickey Mouse. She especially loves for her Dada to sing it! :0) I will try & get a video of her dancing with my other camera so I can upload it. It is the funniest thing! She gets down low & drops her booty. We laugh & say she’s dropping it like it’s hot! Haha!

On December 15th, I got my first slobbery sugar from my sweet baby girl! I love how babies kiss with their little mouths wide open like a baby bird. Precious.



She loves to play peek-a-boo with blankets, pillows, bowls…really anything that she can grab & cover her face up with.

Santa brought Averly several new baby dolls & she is already so motherly with them. If you say “Love the baby” she will hug the doll & pat it’s back. It brought tears to my eyes seeing her do it for the first time. Gah, where did my little baby go?!



She is eating more & more solid foods. I think her favorite so far has been spaghetti. Either that or chicken & dumplins. She is definitely my child!

We’ve had a few boo boos lately as well. Christmas day Riley wanted her to “hide” in the closet & he slammed her thumb in the door. Her poor little thumb has been swollen & her finger was bent backwards. I asked the doctor about it Friday & he said that it didn’t look infected but that she might lose her nail. :0( Then on Saturday she fell & hit her eye on Riley’s stepstool. We thought she was going to have a black eye, but so far it’s just a little knot on her cheekbone. She is super-tough though. TAG says she’s as tough as Chuck Norris! I guess the second child generally is when they have a big brother like my Riley man!



Happy New Year! We stayed in & went to bed shortly after midnight. My how things change when you have kids!

Santa? I KNOW him!

After lunch on Christmas Day we loaded up & headed to my parents’ house. It had been spitting snow a little all day, but none of it stuck. :0( Riley kept saying that he wanted to go play in it the whole drive. I hated there wasn’t any for him to play in but something…or someONE, I should say, drew his attention elsewhere when we arrived.

None other than Santa himself (aka my dad) was at Bubba & ViVi’s house! It totally caught Riley off guard & he was terrified. He never cried, but buried his head in TAG’s shoulder & cut his eyes at Santa. He of course had no idea it was really just his grandpa. Santa told him that this was his last stop & that he was heading back to the North Pole shortly. He tried to get a hug, but Riley wasn’t having it! He did cautiously take the candy cane from him but that was as close as he was going to get!



Both kids were real excited about this picture. Can’t you just see it on their faces?!



I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus…



Poor little guy had this deer-in-the-headlights look for at least 15 minutes after Santa left. I think he was still trying to figure out if he was dreaming or if that had really just happened!



Once we settled in, after Santa left & my dad “got out of the shower” (we told him that he juuusst missed Santa Claus!) we opened more presents & our stockings.



We always get a pecan roll candy & an orange in addition to our other stocking stuffers. Averly was eyeing TAG’s candy here!



Little Miss was enjoying her first Christmas! I felt so blessed to have both of my babies on Christmas this year! They make everyday so special for me.



Please notice the stockings hanging in behind us. They were knitted by one of my grandmother’s friends & my grandma gave them to my parents (just their 2) before my sister & I were born & when we came along, we were added as well. They are so old & missing a few details here & there (like Santa’s foot on the one behind me) but we love getting them out every year. It brings back so many memories.



Later on Christmas night Davie & Mindy always come over. I just love them so much! They are basically our god-parents. TAG & I got married at their beautiful house, they have been there for mine & my sister’s births, as well as both of my children’s.



And then the day after Christmas, my best friend Kelly & her husband came by to visit. Riley loves his Aunt Kel & asks to go swimming any time he sees her! He loves going swimming at her house!



My little Sugar Plum was still taking it all in!  

Up To Christmas Morning

We had lots of celebrating in the few days leading up to Christmas. Riley was so excited this year because he actually understood what was going on. He would say "Mewwy Mismus and to all a yood night!" and "Happy Birsday Sheshus!" He is such a sweetie! And of course, "What's Santa gonna bring?"

I say it every year, but this was the BEST Christmas ever! It literally just gets better & better every year. This year, though, I had both of my babies to love on (since Averly was still in my belly last Christmas). Seeing the  smiles on their faces was pure joy!



The day before Christmas Eve Riley got to open one of his presents from us because he used the potty several times that day. {Gotta love the bribing!}He was so excited & I just couldn't wait to see his reaction on Christmas morning!



Later on Hartley came over to exchange gifts!

 

Then on Christmas Eve Bubba, ViVi, Aunt Brooke, Uncle Josh & Aunt Mamie came. Poor Jamie had to work on Christmas Eve & then drive 4 hours to our house so she was late getting there, but she finally made it!



Brooke & Josh got Riley a train set that none of us ever could completely figure out! It was so complicated & HUGE! I have no idea where we are going to put it! Riley loves it though! TAG is going to work on it some more this weekend. :0)



Mom’s serving dish I got her that Brooke’s mother-in-law made. She makes the most beautiful pottery!



I LOVE Averly’s face in this picture! She was wanting to give her Dada kisses.



Then everyone changed into their pajamas for the night to get ready for Santa to come. (I obviously hadn’t yet.)



Averly & her Mamie in their onsies! Haha!



Riley was very focused writing his letter to Santa. He even drew him a reindeer!

 

Santa came!! They must have been very good this year!



Riley’s reaction when he saw that Santa had been there! He was a little overwhelmed but soooo excited!



Averly’s first reaction on her first Christmas morning was priceless.



The first thing Riley went for was this tiny little Iron Man toy…go figure. He did end up playing with everything though.



Averly loves her baby dolls!



Santa left one last present in the garage!



We ate brunch at our house & spent the whole morning playing with our new things before we got ready to go to my parents’ house.



Then off to Bubba & ViVi’s house to see if Santa had been there yet!