Teeth = MONSTER

After months and months of gnawing on EVERYTHING, drooling, swollen gums and pain, Jax's bottom two teeth FINALLY popped up today! HOORAY! It's bittersweet really. I'm so happy that his pain will be gone (atleast until the next set decide to start rearing their heads), but I'm a little sad because I love his big gummy smile. I know his smile will still be absolutely adorable, but there's just something about a toothless grin...

With his new teeth comes a whole new attitude. We caught this on video tonight when Andy came home. Jax all of a sudden began growling at Daddy. When Andy pretended to be frightened by the roars Jax only made them louder and more vicious. It's pretty funny. Just click on the PLAY button at the bottom of the video (for our less technologically-savvy family members :) ) Please also take notice of the squishy little man-boobs my eight-month old proudly owns.

New Years Eve Sweater and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

New Years Eve Sweater and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Check out this link!!

I want it, I need it...

How darn cute would Ava Grace look in this? I mean, it goes perfectly with her plan to be a part-time princess (she'll be a paleontologist the other half of the time). I can already picture her flitting and twirling around and making sure everyone is aware of how lovely she is.

This lady is sooo talented! Seriously, check out all her stuff, just don't try to steal this one from me. It's mine!!! :)

Such a Little Man

Jax is crawling now, he "talks" alot more... okay, he yells and screams at us when he wants something, although he does say "Mama," "more" and sometimes "hi", and now he has enough hair to comb over into a cute little boy 'do. So, with his new 'do, I thought it time to bust out my favorite accessory of his -- his Sunday tie. I bought this months ago, but Jax's serious overeating and subsequent serious vomiting scared me out of putting it on him. However, now that he's a little older, the spewage has drastically decreased and I felt okay about putting it on the little chunker! SOOOOO GLAD I DID! How darn cute is he?

And, I'm proud to report he made it through all of church last Sunday without spitting up on his tie... drool, well, that's another story.

A Paleontologist and a Princess

Ava, Jax and I had the opportunity Tuesday to go to an amazing dinosaur museum with our friends Jessica, Dylan and Adam. To tell you the truth, I thought that once you'd seen one dinosaur museum you'd seen them all. I mean, they all have old, dead dinosaur bones in them, right? But this museum was so different. It was amazing and soooo kid-friendly.


I love that Ava is going through a dinosaur phase right now. Mine was in 2nd grade in Mrs. Hernandez's class. It could be because that tiny little grandma had a temper like a T-Rex, thus inspiring my dinosaur obsession, or it could have just been a natural phase, who knows. But I distinctly remember that period of my childhood. Friends and I had a "paleontology club" and spent our recesses sitting in the middle of the playground digging through dry Phoenix dirt for bones. Sadly, we never did find any.

Ava, of course, was thrilled to go to the museum... until we got inside and she realized the enormity of dinosaurs. She tensed up a little and told me she didn't want to go in. Fortunately, Dylan was there reminding her, "Don't be scared Ava, dinosaurs are extinct." That and a tight hold on Mommy's hand and she seemed prepared to face the beasts.

This room was very dark and filled with stars. Ava and Dylan were a little scared to go in, so they held hands and went through together.

Ava and Gastonia

Dressed up like and Ankylosaurus

Eventually, the fear wore off and she was excited to run around, see the bones and pictures and play paleontologist at a giant "dig site." Inside the museum is a large are covered in sand. Children, armed with brushes dig through the sand uncovering fossils. It was awesome!


Jax chilled in the stroller most of the time. He and Adam are just two months apart (Jax is younger) so they had fun jabbering at each other and watching their older siblings. Such a fun day!

On the way home, I asked Ava what her favorite part was:

Ava: When I digged for dinosaur bones and pretended to be a paleontologist
Mommy: Do you think you would like to be a paleontologist when you grow up?
Ava: Yes, I think so. But, I'll be a princess when I'm not finding fossils.

Hey, at least she has a plan.!

Not sure what this guy was doing at a dinosaur museum, but it makes a good picture!

Another Ava and Daddy moment...

Ava is full of good ones today. I was feeding Jax peas in the kitchen when I hear this from the living room:

(Andy blows on Ava's belly)
(Ava blows a raspberry)
Andy: Are you gonna blow on my belly now?
Ava: Nope
Andy: You're not?
Ava: Nope, too furry.

The kid cracks me up!

Stinkin' Daddy

I'm in the kitchen right now making grilled cheese sandwiches with the most delicious cheese ever (thank you Macey's!). Andy and the kids are in the living room playing. This is the conversation I just heard between Andy and Ava:

(Andy kisses Ava)

Ava: Daddy you smell stinky.
Daddy: Is it my breath or is it just me in general?
Ava: (with disgust in her voice) I don't know.
Daddy: Well, that's good to know.
Ava: It's really stinky.

Ahhhh, from the mouths of babes.

Where to start...

So, I'm a liar. I promised new photos by the end of the weekend and now it's an-an-hour-and-fifteen minutes until Thursday and I'm finally getting around to it. That's just kinda how life has been for us since we returned home from "vacation."

2009 is already off to a busy, hectic, exciting, chaotic, fun, and a plethora of other adjectives, start for the little fam. Most exciting though, is Jax's new-found mobility. The little dude no longer just moves in reverse, now he is perfectly capable of crawling forward and toward an given object, paper, speck on the ground or unsuspecting foot. He loooooves toes and, unfortunately, is not yet aware of how disgusting it is to put those belonging to other people in one's mouth. I'm sure his fetish will end when he gets a taste of a tuft of Daddy's toe hair. Too much information? Moving on...

Now that Jax is moving, Ava is getting increasingly frustrated with her baby brother. He is now literally into all things Ava. The poor girl can't play peacefully on the floor without Jax crawling on top of her, around her or over her to get to whatever it is she may be playing with at the moment. In all fairness though, Ava tends to get more use out of Jax's toys than he does, so I think in his mind it's only fair that if she is going to slam-dunk on his hoop, he should be allowed to chew on her play food.


On the other hand, Ava loves that her baby brother follows her around, albeit slowly, but he follows nonetheless. He adores her. She knows it. She eats it up. Despite instances of momentary annoyance with him, she loves having him around and loving that he is getting old enough to play with, boss around and make laugh. She's started doing this loud, goofy, gomer of a laugh just because it makes Jax laugh. I love the sound of them giggling together. Ahhh, sweet music!


Here's some photos of the kids laying in Ava's bed. She wanted Jax to cuddle with her. So sweet!



What else, what else? Oh, there's so much and I'm so tired. I'll leave it here for now, but I'll be back. PROMISE!

I'll Be Back...

I promise, I'll return to normal blogging duties this weekend. I wish I had Christmas pictures to share, but unfortunately, my camera was lost somewhere between Arizona and Utah during the drive back home. So, now, I sadly have no pictures of Christmas morning (Jax's first), our trip to Arizona (including photos of Ava riding Hopi) and I lost a lot of product shots I had taken for the website. We got a new camera a few days ago and I'm already hard at work filling up the 4GB memory card. I promise to have new pictures of the kids up by the end of the weekend.

Until then...

Stay Squishy!