Mix It Up

My friend Keri and I decided we needed to get out of the rut of everyday stay-at-home mommy routine and mix it up a bit. We racked our brains for all the fun things we could do with the kiddos besides the usual McDonald's playground, mall playground and park. We came up with a couple ideas and decided on heading to Michael's craft store to get some things to make homemade Easter baskets. It turned out to be a fun project to do with the girls, and I definitely think we enjoyed ourselves just as much as they did. Our final results were pretty impressive, hopefully they hold up to all the treats and Easter eggs that come soon!

Such a cute picture of Rilyn and Kayla.

Here the girls are showing off their new Easter baskets.

Longest 24 Hours

I find it funny how every day Jeff and I complain that there isn't enough time in the day. The days have been flying by lately between work, having two kids and all the house guests we have this time of year. I guess in a way we got what we asked for.......a very long 24 hours! Friday night I had to work and Jeff was having a couple guys over for dinner. Around 4:30, our neighbor saw Jeff in the backyard and asked if he could watch their 3 year old daughter, both her and her 10 month old weren't feeling well and her husband was going to take the little one to the hospital. Between 4:30 and the time I got home from work, which was around 9:30, Rilyn had gotten a black eye (jumping on the bed incident), the neighbors little girl ran into our China Hutch and cut above her eye (which initially Jeff thought needed stitches) then after giving both girls baths their little one had throw up twice while Jeff was holding her. Jeff was thankful there were a few people there to help him with everything, but they obviously didn't stay long. By one in the morning that night Jeff was violently throwing up and shaking with the chills, while Emerson had a fever of 103. The next day Jeff stayed in bed, and it seemed like forever until 7:30pm came around so that I could have a shot of getting some sleep, since that was non-existent the night before. Luckily I thought to put towels under Rilyn while she slept just in case, and by 2am she was up throwing up or "spitting up" according to her. So far so good this morning, let's hope this all has passed, but I have a feeling it will be another day of waiting to get to 8pm again so that sleep may be possible tonight :).

Girls Night Out II

Luckily, we got another opportunity to have a Girls Night Out before everyone starts taking off for the season (BOO!). I suggested my favorite restaurant, Oregano's and although we had an hour and a half wait, it didn't disappoint. The food was delicious like always and we all had a great time catching up. I feel so blessed that there is such a large group of us that met in Buffalo and still keep in touch and enjoy getting together every chance we get. I am going to miss you Girls this season and wish you all a successful and enjoyable year! Thanks for all the great times and memories....

After dinner we headed over to Scottsdale for a drink. The place was nice, and the manager decided we needed a huge centerpiece of cotton candy! Can someone say "Sugar Rush" between our pizza cookies at Oregano's and cotton candy at the Saddle Back Ranch?

Susan was obviously enjoying the cotton candy the most! Thought I would include these pictures of Rilyn from earlier in the day. She had gone potty and tried to make a get-away on her caterpillar before putting her panties back on. She gave me a good chase and laugh, before she hit the dead end in our closet!

5 Month Photo Shoot

Emerson is now 5 months old! That is impossible to me and even quite sad that time has passed that quickly already. She is such an amazing baby and brings so much happiness to Jeff, Rilyn and I. She is a very strong girl and can already roll in both directions! She has started eating solids, can sit in a high chair, rides in the stroller facing the right direction (no more carseat in the stroller) and loves chewing on anything in sight. She will flash her smile to anyone and has really enjoyed hearing her voice, even in the middle of the night! :) Lately, she been waking throughout the night, but I am convinced it is due to maybe teething? Rilyn loves her little sister and always wants to be around her. It has been so fun to see the two of them interact. I just pray as they get older they still enjoy eachother's company. Here are some recent pictures of Emerson.

This morning, I got up to say good-bye to Jeff at 5:30am, which by this point Rilyn had crawled into bed with us and I had just fed Emerson. I decided to not put Emerson back in her crib since she had dozed off again, and this is what I came back to. It was so sweet to see the girls snuggled up together, with their arms intertwined. I just sat and looked at them for awhile to enjoy the moment. It doesn't get much sweeter than this!

Emerson's 1st Feeding

Tonight was the big night, we decided to give rice cereal a try. Emerson has been waking often throughout the night, so I figured she just not getting enough to hold her over. The Dr. gave us the okay to start on solids and tonight was no better than any other night to start. I was actually pretty surprised at how well Emmy did, she only ate a little, but didn't push much out. I think she is so into chewing on things that she just liked having something in her mouth to gnaw on.

Here's her taking her first taste of the rice cereal, looking to Dada for an explanation on what it was she was eating. "Oh my, I don't know if I like this too much...."

"I'll give it another shot.""Okay Mama, you are too slow at getting that spoon to my mouth."

Little Miss Independent taking over. Looks like she is going to enjoy eating as much as her Mommy and Daddy do! :)

Nana and Gramps Visit

I have to say, four adults can manage two children better than two adults. What a help my parents were this last week while in town. They really took over with the kids, from playing at McDonald's to soccer games at the park, going to the zoo, hitting a spring training baseball game and of course all the great dinners they prepared each night. One of the best parts was the fact Jeff and I got two nights out alone, "date night", we aren't too familiar with those these days. The girls really enjoyed all the attention they received from Nana and Gramps. Thanks again for EVERYTHING!! We miss you guys already. Enjoying the surroundings at the ballgame, although I am thankful this won't be an everyday occurrence. Uncle Grayson getting a little one-on-one time with Emmy.Our happy little baby, flashing yet another smile.Gramps took on the job of bathtime..... After a long day of McDonald's playground in the morning and baseball in the sun during the afternoon. I can't tell who looks the most worn out?

Fun With The Camera

So, our little photographer got a hold of mommy's camera today and had some fun. I think she probably took at least 50 photos, but it definitely kept her busy and she seemed to really enjoy the control of taking the pictures. As you can see, her first few were pretty amateur, but I have to say I was pretty impressed by the end of her "photo shoot". Thanks to Uncle Grayson for being her model. It looks like he might have been having a little more fun than Rilyn was! He started getting creative with his facial expressions and props.....

Here's Nana in the action with her close up "CHEESE!".

Are you not impressed by this one, remember it was taken by a 2 year old!

And finally, the photographer herself, Miss Rilyn Avery....Great work sweetie!

A Day With The Ducks

The other day both Jeff and I had off so we decided to take advantage of the city park that is right down the street from us. It is nice because there is a lake, dog park and playground all in the same place. We remembered this time to bring some bread so that Rilyn could feed the ducks. We figured they would go crazy for the bread and therefore get pretty close to her. These ducks must be the best fed ducks I have ever seen. We obviously weren't the first people to think to bring bread for the ducks. It was almost impossible to get some of the ducks attention at first, and once they did make their way over they didn't seem too impressed with the fact we had bread. Rilyn kept calling for them and I think out of pity a couple of the ducks took a nibble or two, but we realized these ducks are overfed everyday and therefore weren't interested in what we had to offer. Oh well, it was a nice day and still fun to be out there.

Jeff and Rilyn trying to lure the ducks over.

Gardening with Dada

Jeff is really into taking care of our yard and has gotten Rilyn involved as well. He thought it would be fun for him and Rilyn to work on one of the projects he had together. He let Rilyn pick out some new gardening gloves and a watering bucket to help with the job. It sounded like she had a great time potting the flowers in their new home. She was so excited to show me what she had accomplished when I got home from work. Thanks Jeff for capturing it all in the pictures.

Emerson just enjoying the nice weather outside while Dada and Rilyn garden.