A's 3rd Birthday!

We cannot believe that Avery is 3 already...my oh my how the time flies!  It's so crazy.  We had a fun filled week of birthday fun and surprises (with the last one happening on Sunday, stay tuned:)

I got Avery's actual birthday off last minute (a friend covered for me:) so I got to be with my girl all day long and I am so grateful because it was a perfect day.  In the morning we all got up together (a rarity in this house with our opposite schedules) and I made everyone blueberry, banana chocolate chip pancakes and boy were they good!  Aves of course had a candle in hers...

Then Daddy helped us girls get ready and we were off to the nail salon.  I know what you're thinking, who takes their 3 year old to the nail salon?  I always judged people for bringing their super young girls in BUT we decided to do it and it was totally worth it.  Aves felt like a princess.  She left her feet in the spa chair the whole time and even let them do the leg massage, she had a smile on her face the whole time.  

Then I headed to the movie theatre where we saw the movie "Brave".  Aves loved that as well (Myla not so much:).  At the end of the movie the Mom and daughter in the movie were crying because they thought they might never see each other again and I looked over at my sweet little 3 year old who had crocodile tears falling down her face.  I asked her what was wrong and she responded, "she's never going to see her mommy again."  Then I cried too, it was too dear.

Here's Aves a couple days later in her dance outfit (and cowboy boots) from Dawson:)

Then we headed home...and to our surprise Daddy came home early from work!  We enjoyed lunch as a family and then put Aves down (no...she did not sleep, she was way too excited).  I was slaving away on her favorite dinner, homemade "Vermont" mac-n-cheese, ribs, and corn, one of the most high maintenance meals I've ever made.  After a couple of hours of room time, Aves was allowed to come out because her bestie Dawson came over to bring her a present (which was the cutest little dance outfit ever:)  They played for a while and then he had to go...Aves was very sad until Nana and Pop-pop (my parents) came over for dinner.  We all enjoyed Avery's favorite dinner and gave her all the attention for the whole meal.  Then we let her open presents, we sang and gave her brownies and ice cream.  Overall, it was a glorious day and she felt very special and loved, you could definitely tell.

Then Saturday we had her birthday party!  It was a pool party at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dave's house and it was soooooo much fun. Us big kids may have had a little more fun than the little ones but overall Avery felt very special and loved.  It was "yo gabba gabba" themed with everything from the invites to the candle toppers on the cupcakes (Kathy you would have been proud:)  We swam, ate all of Avery's favorite foods (chips and dips, fruit, and hot dogs with some cheeseburgers thrown in for the rest of us) and the kids ran around a lot.  It was a good time had for all.  

Yummy food

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dave have a gorgeous backyard!

sporting my gabba whistle and necklace:)

the birthday girl!

yummy!

we even had gabba confetti!

so glad auntie erica and uncle bryan made it back on time!

the fam:)

dawson swimming all by himself!

me and my birthday girl!

closing her eyes waiting for the cupcakes...

getting everybody to close their eyes...

so excited she can't wait

she didn't even need my help to blow out candles...made me a little sad.

picking hers out quick

sharing with cousin michael!

this just shows how happy she was:)

happiness continues

and continues

and continues:)

As for Myla, you'll get an update on her later but overall she's great.  she just keeps growing and jumping (she loves her johny jump up:)  here's my twin children that aren't actually twins, we unfortunately couldn't get the same angle but you get the idea...apparently andy and i have strong genes!

Adios until next time:)

67 Boxford Place

Here it is...a photo session of our new house:)  Again, we couldn't be more excited, there will be more pictures to come as the guest bathroom is still being worked on (hopefully finished tomorrow) and we still have work to do in the master and office, but you'll get the idea, woohoooo!

Here it is from the street although we've planted a lot of flowers in that front dirt patch and there is a gorgeous bouquet type thing of flowers between the front door and the window:)  Also, our lawn is currently striped cause we're new to this homeowners thing and have been fertilizing it (apparently in a striped pattern:)

As you can imagine we've already had a ton of fun in the front yard including having dawson come over to play on a blow up water toy:)  Here is a picture of Dawson and his baby brother Evan (who is 3 months younger than Myla) and the girls:)

They're so excited about the space to play.

When you walk in the front door the living room is off to the right and the office is through some really cool glass doors off to the left (pictures to come of the office, gotta keep you waiting on something:)

The girls watching TV together:)

Myla enjoying some of the space she has to play now!

Then you walk into the amazing kitchen!!!  we knocked out part of a wall here (you can see to the right of the picture where the wall used to be and it went all of the way to where the island is, instead of the island the pantry in the right side of the photo was there making the kitchen tiny, it is gorgeous now!)  we also added new floors.

A different view from the kitchen, we had that beautiful green wall painted!

The view from outside the kitchen window

This used to be a waterfall in the backyard but we turned it into a flower garden.

Back inside as you walk down the hallway first thing to the right is the girls' bathroom, Myla loves it (pictures to come:) Then the master bedroom to the right...BUT straight ahead you have this amazing view...

Myla's room!

She has 2 striped walls and 2 white walls, it's coming along so nicely!

Myla loves that she has her own space and no longer sleeps in the bathroom:)

Next room on the right is Avery's room, she has her own collage of pictures and one amazingly bright pink wall.

She couldn't be happier about it!

The other corner of the room we're still working on but she loves it.

Sleeping in her bed in her room (this was taken at 0115 in the morning when i got home from work, she had gotten up, turned the light on and was screaming for water, once she got it she was happy:)

She loves loves loves her new room and feeling like a big girl which includes picking out her own outfits:)

After Avery's room is the laundry room followed by the garage, we love it!  Here are some outdoor pictures as well...

Andy built this planter, he's pretty much amazing.  We planted lots of fruits and veggies, we'll keep you updated on whether or not we keep everything alive:) But as you can see we're already producing blueberries...

Got the playhouse and slide at garage sales, score!

Also got this picnic table at a garage sale, Aves loves to eat outside.  To the right in the dirt/along the fence we planted the really big sunflowers, can't wait for them to grow! (although they probably won't be full grown for another year)

Here's a close up of the sunflowers sprouting through the dirt

Different views of the backyard...

This random patch of cement we'll be turning into a 4 square court:)

 

The storage side yard!

 Added to the amazing features of the house there is a park within walking distance!  It's hard to see in this picture because it's at the far end of the trees but it's great!

We're so excited about the house and beginning to be able to relax more and enjoy it which is so wonderful.  Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible!!!

Alright people, we know it's been FOREVER since we last blogged but we're back up and running.  Life is beginning to slow down (a little bit) and we're getting into a "normal" routine:)  Life has been even more crazy than normal with us working, taking care of both chillins, and our big move just over a month ago.  We are settled into our a new house and while there are still things to be done, we're absolutely loving it here.  Going from 2 rooms to 4 AND having a yard has been life changing.  When people ask me about it I say that I'm embarrassed that a "thing" can bring us as a family so much joy, but the reality is that it has.  Having a yard for Avery to play in has been amazing and Andy and I have really gotten into gardening and what not.  We have a fruit/vegetable garden and flowers all over the place, it's so great!  We're in phase 2 of construction, we're currently having the girls' bathroom re-done and we did some work on the kitchen (tore down a wall, new flooring, etc)

As far as the kiddos go Aves is almost 3, we can't believe it!  She's a non-stop talker (as Jeff says who is doing the construction) and she's VERY BUSY.  She is starting a real dance class the week of her birthday where they have a uniform and it's tap and ballet, she's going to love it.  We've also signed her up for preschool starting at the end of august because she needs a little bit more stimulation and attention:)

Myla just turned 7 months and we're working hard on her sitting up which she's not quite doing on her own yet, she's just not into it.  She loves playing with toys, chewing on EVERYTHING, and being entertained by Avery.  Unfortunately...she's also a Daddy's girl and despite all the things I try, she gives the biggest smiles to him;)  She's also getting sooooo close to giggling, we're just not quite there yet.

It's Andy and I's birthday week which was good.  We both worked both of our birthdays (to keep it fair:) but we both felt loved and special.  I'm attaching a link to some pictures of the last couple of months including a trip we took to winnemucca, NV to enjoy Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's 70th wedding anniversary.  Enjoy the pictures and expect a house update of photos soon:)
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.757459094427.2144881.68602760&type=1&l=7ec99c7b1a http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.757459094427.2144881.68602760&type=1&l=7ec99c7b1a