BIG Catch Up...

Well, I like to think that I have done a good job of keeping up with the blog, that is until this posting!  Oops! I realized that it has been over a month since our last update, but the reality is that we haven't done a whole lot that has been worth blogging about.  Since our last post, school is back in session, Avery is back at daycare, and oh yes, we are expecting another baby!!  (That last one might actually be a pretty good reason why I have not updated recently!)

Let's start there....
Currently, I am officially at the beginning of the second trimester!  The first trimester was a bit difficult at times.  I was so lucky with Avery- I was never sick!  This time around, I was in a constant state of queasy stomach for the first 9 weeks or so.  Thankfully, that is all gone now and I am looking forward to the day that my energy levels begin to rise again...that will happen, right?  We are told that our due date is around March 14, but we had several due dates with Avery.  Here's our little nugget....can you make out the baby?  During this ultrasound, he (yeah, we kind of think he) was kicking and waving at us!

Avery doesn't really know what to think about it all.  Sometimes at night, however, she climbs onto my lap and will sing songs to the baby or read to him.  It is all very sweet.  We ask her if it is a boy or girl and it fluctuates from day to day.  I think she even told us it was a puppy one time!  :)

Now, speaking of Little Miss Princess.... oh boy!  It is like a light switch was flipped the day she turned 2!  The tantrums are here, the meltdowns are here, the attitude is definitely here!  (Those might actually be taking all my energy away!)  Now there have been plenty of days where she is an absolute delight and we love those days!

This weekend the local pumpkin farm opened up and it was a beautiful day to head out there.

Playing in the corn crib....

Since turning 2, Avery is not really a big fan of having her picture taken. This was the best she could do with mommy...

Little Pumpkin Head

I know you can't see either of their faces, but I just love this picture!

 Jumping on the big jumping pillow!

See what I mean about no picture taking??

Now that the fall weather is officially upon us, we started decorating and of course the window clings came out.  We are not sure Avery understands how these things work...  Silly pumpkin!

And since it has been so long...here's just a few random pictures-

Don't you just love her tongue out too?

Her second favorite thing to do!

Her most favorite thing to do is to go to our little lake and feed the ducks.  However, she is not a fan of the geese that try to bombard her when she starts to feed the ducks.  Once that starts, she usually just throws whatever she has left and takes off running!  You can see how excited she is in this little video!

Love from Bloomington!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

It is official...we have a full blown 2 year old on our hands!!  Last Sunday Avery turned 2 but it seems as though we have been celebrating for much longer than that!  Due to a family picnic (see below) we had to do Avery's birthday party a week before her real birthday.  Good thing when you are 2, the actual date doesn't matter- only cupcakes!

We invited all of our friends with kids and had a nice little backyard party this year.  We served all of Avery's favorite foods- hot dogs, fruit, and cupcakes!  Grandma even brought a pinata for the kids to beat on before a big kid had to break it open!

We had not 1, but 2 pools for the kids.  Thankfully, it divided up the littles from the bigs!

Yes, Avery likes to swim with her clothes on sometimes....

 I did say sometimes!

You would think this plate of food falling would be from a kid.  Think again.  I will not mention names.

And of course there were presents!

 And cupcakes.  (Did you notice that her clothes came back on?  This was the pattern all day!)

And then they came back off!

 Everyone enjoyed the cupcakes!

Some even enjoyed the cupcakes like it was their birthday!  This kid is awesome and loves cupcakes!!!  :)

Then it was pinata time...

We are so thankful for all our friends who were able to help us celebrate!

Then the following weekend we traveled to my family reunion on my dad's side.  This year it happened to fall on Avery's birthday.  Talk about celebrating with the ones you love!  Saturday night we got to my parents house around 6:30, ate dinner and put Avery down around 9:30.  She has slept in the toddler bed a couple times before and has had no problems since I sleep in the bed next to her.  I went to bed about an hour later and fell asleep around 11.  Then, it started.  At 11:30, Avery crawled into bed with me...no problem.  We tried to snuggle, didn't work.  We tried to go back to the toddler bed, didn't work.  At 1am, we were still trying to get Avery to go back to sleep.  Then we went to the basement to the bigger bed.  At 3am we were still trying to get Avery to go back to sleep.  At this point, Dave and I have not slept yet either.  Avery remained awake, and VERY alert, until we made her cry it out at 5:30 in the morning!!!!  Someone sure knew it was her birthday!  She managed to get in about 4 hours of sleep before we had to leave for the picnic.  Dave and I (thanks to my parents) managed a couple hours of sleep as well.

Overall, Avery managed quite fine.  There were lots of people celebrating with her, loving on her and of course Lucas was there to run around with.  By 2:00, she was done and we drove the 2.5 hours home with a sound asleep baby, er, toddler, er, kid(??) in the back seat.

See...she looks miserable, right?

Brownies from Grandma

 And cookies too.  Anything to keep her happy on her birthday!

Ready to play a game with the other kids.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!  We love you so much and are so proud to be your mommy and daddy.  You have brought us such joy in two years and you make us so happy every day.

Keepin' Busy

Outside of our visit from Auntie Mara, we have been keeping busy with many other things!  I feel so incredibly lucky to have the job I have.  Not only do I love what I do, but I also get 3 straight months to spend with Avery!  I thought I would share some of our favorite pictures from the last few weeks!

Children's Discovery Museum

Brookfield Zoo with Auntie Ashley and the Antfellners

Avery loved this one little fish tank in the penguin house because it had a Nemo and a Dory!!

Avery's first cab ride in Chicago!  Yikes!

Millennium Park

She wasn't so sure about the Bean at first.

Then she just wanted to hug it!  :)

I love this sign!!  (Even though I am guilty of putting ketchup on my hot dogs at times!!)

Avery has also found a love for finger painting!

And we even got a visit in with Gigi!!