Park!

I'm making up for the few weeks that I was blog free and thought I would take the time to post when I had it :-) I'm loving the nice weather that we've been having... So today Andy and I took advantage of it and took the kids to the park. Two things we discovered... One - the girls are a lot better on the park equipment this year (versus the constant scares last year) and two - I still need that portable fence. After the 3rd warning of the girls trying to run off, we packed them all up and went home (to all crying, including Declan). BUT, it was fun while it lasted and the girls will eventually get the hang of listening and not running into oncoming traffic...

Here are some pictures from the day... The girls finally get the concept of saying "cheeeeeeese," but they don't quite get the concept of all of them doing it at the same time and standing next to each other. I just keep telling myself that they will do this one day...

Declan & Stevie...

So sweet...

Stevie was definitely my model today...

Love her smile!

Aven saying "cheeeeeeeeese"

Bria (now everyone can tell them apart since she has a missing tooth :-))

And Declan...

Baseball Saturday!

Against my better judgement we decided to take the whole family to watch Declan play baseball (for the first time)... The good news is that I think Declan found a new favorite sport - he absolutely loved it! And I seriously think it's the best $50 we've ever spent - the league is great and very well run! If only I could have watched him just a little bit... But instead, I was trying to contain 3 crazy 2 year olds. Luckily my sister was there to help, but it was still totally nuts. If you ever want to invite us anywhere, where you are pretty sure doesn't have a pen or enclosed area to put the girls, don't. I mean it, don't. After these last few weeks it's just made me realize that there isn't even a little enjoyment in taking the kids out or any kind of open space. It's like they have a talk before we go anywhere and tell each other to always run the opposite direction off each other. I seriously feel like they are out to get me. So, Saturdays will now be a nice Daddy / Declan day and we will bring the girls again maybe when they are 4, maybe.

Here are some photos from the day, don't let these cute ones fool you... Stevie in green, Aven in pink and Bria in purpose (with some cool shades)...

There is nothing more adorable than a bunch of 5 year olds running around trying to play baseball for the first time...

Aven listening to me (and shoving her face) for 2.5 seconds...

Oh, look at this, both Aven and Bria sitting for a brief moment... But where is Stevie?

Oh, here she is... don't let this photo fool you, she didn't watch anything Declan was doing for any period of time...

Auntie Em and Aven - not the other two in the background - yep, that's pretty much how the day went. all. day. long...

Bria...

And our proud little baseball player! Love this kid.

The Tooth Fairy...

We had a great couple of weeks being in Wisconsin... It's been since August and the girls have certainly changed a lot (and seemed to be more challenging to keep in one spot). We were pretty lucky and we got some decent weather. I traveled for work both weeks so I was really only around on the weekends, but it was so nice to be home and have some extra hands with the kiddos. Andy and I also closed on our house in Atlanta while there and took Declan with us to pick out his room (his is the biggest of course and I'm certain he will be terrified to sleep in it).

We've got one more month in New Jersey and then we are heading out... I'm not sure I want to go anywhere in the car with our kids again, but I'm looking forward to only an 11 hour trip to WI from Georgia versus the 14 hours it takes for us from Jersey. The ride home yesterday had a lot of water, both from the rain and the tears...

We did arrive back home with one less tooth in the family. And unfortunately it was Bria... Yes, too young to lose a tooth, so she did it the hard way. She fell and cracked it all the way up to the gum - how she wasn't in excruciating pain is beyond me... She knocked most of it out actually. The whole thing was a bigger deal than we all thought and she had to be hospitalized to have it removed by a pediatric dentist (and was put under for it thankfully). Thank goodness for my folks because they were able to take her in and to the hospital all the while Andy and I were in Atlanta... And it doesn't seem that she's missed a beat. It's a little sad because she won't have a front tooth for the next several years of her life (until her permanent tooth comes in), so I thought it was good that we are moving to the south - at least our little hillbilly will fit in there :-)

This was post cracking her tooth, but pre having it pulled... You can tell she basically knocked most of it out. She already had a gap between her two front teeth, so it looks pretty funny now :-)

Grandma Judy getting swarmed by butterflies!

And Grandma Sally being tied up by Declan (who was tying knots all week long...)

Aven running off somewhere...

Declan, cousin Simon and the son (Jacob) of a friend of mine...

Our kids and my friend Jill's kids. Notice my kids freaking out and Grandma Judy trying to corral them...

Stevie hugging another friend Olive (they were so cute!)

Poe, Levin and Declan (Declan LOVES these kids and we do too!)

Aven and Olive having a convo... Love these pics with the helmet and hello kitty of course!

L to R: Bria (with tooth), Stevie & Aven

Stevie mimicking me by trying to take a picture with her brother's iTouch.

Stevie and cousin Landon hugging it out...

Declan on Easter morning... The Easter Bunny was goo to him!

Bria our movie star reading her book while on her way to Easter breakfast...

Bria on the Easter egg hunt at Andy's cousins house... I think I am still exhausted by this day. I wish I could just walk around with a portable fence around the girls all day long.

Stevie walking away from me....

Stevie & Bria...

Declan and his cousins loving each other!

It was a great couple of weeks and looking forward (minus the car ride) to going back at the end of May again Hopefully we can see the people we didn't get a chance to see this time!

29 Months (Almost)!

Since we've got a busy week I thought I'd get a jump start on reporting on what the girls are up too... On a bright note, the girls seem to have dodged bullet on the stomach flu... Andy wasn't so lucky and I think I had a little something, but so far so good on the girls (but time will tell).

Aven: Aven continues to be the dominating sister... But, she's a huge lover too. I call her my little monkey because when I'm around, she won't let me out of her sight and wants me to hold her all. the. time. And when I'm paying attention to anyone else, she will make sure that I shift my focus to her. However, I will say, she's gotten a lot more independent and will play on her own and loves her "crazy" time with her sisters. Her and Bria become the best of friends when they know it's bedtime and they want to be cute.

• Nicknames: Avie, Ave
• Favorite thing to do: Climbing (everywhere), coloring, reading books, playing with her castle and her yo gabba gabba dolls and play in the laundry room
• Favorite food: My lasagna and any type of breakfast food (i.e. waffles, hash browns)
• Favorite toy: yo gabba gabba dolls
• Favorite TV show: Yo Gabba Gabba
• What she doesn't like: She doesn't like when people tell her "no," her diaper changed and when her sisters take what she is playing with (or get in a 1 ft radius of something she is playing with)
• Morning or Night: She is just like her brother and dad and is a night owl... She (and her sisters) are becoming increasingly challenging at night and at nap time. I'm sure we could start taking naps out, but that sounds like a terrible idea, so we'll deal with it for a bit longer... 
• Things she likes to say: She has been saying more and more... She regularly says mama, dada, no, more, eye, nose and she repeats a ton of things that we ask her to say.
• Funniest thing she does: She loves to dance (like the rest of the girls) and she spins around in circles with her eyes closed (every time) and she gets so dizzy that she looks like a drunken sailor trying to walk around... 
• Therapies: Aven is still getting DI and it is going great! We've seen tremendous progress with her speech and overall communication. Mostly because I think they have a great therapist... I'm anxious to get them started down in GA and am hopeful we'll be fortunate enough to get

Bria: Bria is still our sweetheart, but she has been getting the terrible 2's lately... She wants to make sure we know she's not okay with everything and our "easy" one :-) She plays great independently and you often find her playing by herself singing. She especially likes Old McDonald and her own made up song. One could say she beats to her own song...

• Nicknames: Bri, Bri Bri, B-B, B
• Favorite thing to do: Sing, dance, wear her big brothers shoes and clothes and play in the laundry room
• Favorite food: She pretty much likes everything... 
• Favorite toy: yo gabba gabba dolls, books, puzzles, jewelry and her brothers shoes
• Favorite TV show: Yo Gabba Gabba
• What she doesn't like: Her diaper changed and when her sisters take something that she's playing with
• Morning or Night: She is getting more difficult at night like her sisters... She still is our best sleeper, but she become a tad more difficult to get down at night (and at nap)
• Things she likes to say: She pretty much will say anything you ask her too, it's not independent yet, but she is saying more and more to get the things she wants. She's also saying "mommy" now (vs mama), which is so adorable... She will also say a few two-word commands like "no mommy"
• Funniest thing she does: She has the cutest dance move where she swings her hips back and forth (I've been trying for weeks to get it on video with no luck)
• Therapies: Bria gets DI with Aven, once a week and similar to Aven, it's going great!

Bria wearing her brothers PJs (on top of her clothes) and his shoes... 

Stevie: Stevie really does beat to her own drum. Although she tends to follow her sisters, she also wants nothing to do with them. When they play ring around the rosie, she never wants to hold their hand. She wants to dance and sing on her own, without their "help." She is full of hugs and kisses for anything and everything - seriously, I often catch her kissing the fridge.

• Nicknames: Sweet Pea (that's what Andy calls her a lot)
• Favorite thing to do: Dance, run and chase her brother (or sisters)
• Favorite food: She actually won't touch bananas now. I'm assuming that's because of the thousands that she's already eaten... So as far as favorite foods, she's a bit up in the air. But she does love yogurt.
• Favorite toy: Magnadoodle and playing dress up (usually in her rain boots)
• Favorite TV show: Yo Gabba Gabba
• What she doesn't like: When you don't give her what she wants (which can be challenging she can't always tell us what she wants)
• Morning or Night: See above, she's similar to her sisters here... 
• Things she likes to say: Her speech is getting much better... She says "mama" and "dada" regularly and she has started to imitate people or repeat something you ask her to
• Funniest thing she does: She loves to dance and it's cute, it's funny and it's adorable... 
• Therapies: Stevie's still getting PT and speech. We will likely stop the PT when we move to GA, but continue with DI or speech - overall both are still helping.

Declan is getting excited for the move. He's excited about his new room, which he will get to pick out when he comes with Andy and I in a few weeks for our closing. He's also starting baseball in a few weeks, which should be interesting.  Declan enjoys drawing, singing, being outside, playing ANYTHING and any kind of game.

Declan and Stevie while we were playing outside this weekend...

Bria playing in puddles...

The kids getting ready for the badgers - too bad we didn't have a good result on the game :( L to R: Bria, Aven, Declan and Stevie.

I was trying to get them to hold up #1, but only Stevie got the hang of it and wanted to cooperate...

Declan meditating while Bria looks on :-)

First ride in the choo choo this year...

L to R: Stevie, Bria & Aven...

Playing outside today... L to R: Bria, Stevie & Aven