Girls Night!

Daddy is out and about tonight, so the three of us had Girls Night! What does that consist of with a 2 and 1 yr old? Well....watching movies daddy is not fond of, (Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake), eating dinner in the living room and playing with our ice cream set and microwave set that mommy had been saving for a rainy day and tonight turned out to be that literal "rainy day"!

If only Reese could have looked up instead of down!

It wouldn't be right if we didn't get a random picture of Reese!

Cooks prepping

Cooks creations....BELICIOUS! (as Ava would say)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads in our lives! We wouldn't be where we are without all of your love and support!

Thank you to this daddy (pictured below) for being such a great dad through the tears, fits, smiles and laughter! Love you so much!

Miller Park Zoo Fun with Grandma and Paw Paw

On Saturday Grandma and Paw Paw Jacob escorted us to the Miller Park Zoo. We had a great day of looking at the animals, playing at the park, having a picnic, experiencing the local culture at the Miller Park pond and by local culture, I mean, people and their dead fish staring at us out of buckets and my most favorite memory Reese picking up a cigarette butt and smooshing it all over mouth! ICK!!! I'm getting sick all over again just thinking about it!!

It really was a fun day though, and the girls did great! They even went stroller free!

Here they are with the Wallabies

Ava was anxious to see every exhibit!

Reese was mesmerised by the River Otters and probably could of stayed there all day!


What I thought was a cute picture of Ava and Paw Paw at the Sea Lion area actually turned out to be an X rated pic. I'll let you find that on your own!

Here we are checking out more of the Sea Lions. I could barely get Reese over the rail to see!

The fam in the rainforest exhibit

Reese and Grandma were checking out the bears, they must have been doing something very interesting based on their expressions!

These are my favorite pics. Reese and Ava were SO excited to go into the petting zoo and you can see it on there faces

Then....total disaster! A goat has approached them! Check out how Ava had retreated back into the gated area and was not letting go of that fence.

No worries though, they went over and grabbed some brushes and got right to work! Daddy took a little time out to pose!

Next up was the Carousel

And then the ride ended and someone was NOT happy!

We moved onto the park where Ava climbed these bars all by herself. She then wanted to come down...I panicked so Daddy had to step in and help.

And I had to panic again....this time you can see it on my face. How could I let my baby go down a big kid slide???? I did finally release her and she did fine. What can I say I have problems letting go and they are only 2 and 1!

Sorry no pics of the fish or the cigarette butt incident.

We all had a great time and appreciate Grandma and Paw Paw making the drive over!

Memorial Day F-U-N

On Monday, the college friends crew...minus the Birdsell's came to our house to celebrate the beginning of summer! Too bad it was cold and rainy. We had 5 children under the age of 2 1/2 all under one roof, and one more will be joining us in Dec! Yay April and Gary!! :-)

So, we went from this a year ago....

to this....total toddler chaos

It's oldest to youngest starting with Ava, Reese, Trent, Lila and Max. We told Ava she was going to be the baby boss, and she took that title proudly. She woke up on Monday morning and asked, "my babies here mommy? I be baby boss today, mommy"! When everyone left she asked in a sad voice, "my babies go?"!

Now, we move on to Reese. She turned out to be the undercover bruiser! The day ended with Reese and Trent playing outside on the porch, suddenly I see Reese somehow take Trent down to the ground and he nailed his head on the door! Disclaimer, that Trent is ok. I had never seen Reese do something like that, and she immediately had to go inside and go to bed. Very embarrassing. That night, I was going through our pictures and realized, she not only took Trent to the ground, she also poked Trent's eyes and then proceeded to rip Lila's bow out of her hair. Let's just hope this is a bully phase, not a way of life for her! Sorry Apes and Amanda!!

I think it's funny that Amanda, Amy, April and myself were all pregnant at the same time with the 4 of these kiddos. Reese is the oldest by 4-5 months, and literally she is the shortest and weighs the least out of everyone. She's my little runt!

Here's some candids.

Trent

Lila and daddy (Photog didn't get any with just Lila). Disregard the trampoline net that is masking them.

Max (also hidden behind the net)

We had lots of fun and can't wait to see everyone again soon!

When I grow up

I want to be.....

An architect like daddy

OR

A professional baby

Happy Birthday Bebe!

Ava's world....we're just livin in it!

We're still here! It's been hard to make myself post the last couple of weeks, we've been so busy with family, Ava throwing meltdown fits, playing outside, Ava throwing more fits, searching for the perfect swingset, Reese throwing food, Ava screaming as loud as she possibly can, and you know everything else!!!

Does it sound like I'm being hard on Ava??? In the last few weeks she has definitely entered that phase that is so nicely referred to as "the terrible 2's"! If you've been out to Wal-Mart, the YWCA, or Ron and Marcia Jacob's house in the last couple of weeks you might have witnessed it firsthand! It's the classic throw myself on the floor screaming and crying, go limp so no one can pick you up type of fit! It's great! I'm hoping Seth was an angel toddler, so that I can remain hopeful that Reese will sail through these years with no melt-downs!!

With the bad does come the very good, Ava is quick to tell you "Wuv You" and give big hugs and kisses. Or she will pull out her breakdance moves, and then do a little Shake Booty song, and shake her booty along to her song! Now who can resist that???? It's priceless!

I'll leave you with a quote from Ava right after one of her recent melt-downs, "I not throw fits mommy, I big girl"!