Love is in the Air!

It is not even Valentine's Day but love is surely in the air around here!  We started out our month with a little mini Valentine's Day session with our favorite photographer.  We only got one picture of the girls together... Avery was more interested in playing with her friend Ashlyn (Bridget's daughter) than taking pictures with her sister.  And so it begins....  Regardless, they were pretty cute!

Then last week, Avery received a very special gift in the mail!  My cousin Kristine is getting married and she and her fiance sent Avery all sorts of goodies to ask her to be their flower girl!  Avery was super excited and keeps talking about how she will walk down the isle and the flowers she will throw.

First, there was Peanut the bear who came holding flowers and with her own beautiful dress.

Inside the basket was also a necklace, a poem, and a personalized hanger.  I am so excited Avery gets to be part of their wedding and love that they think so much of Avery to have asked her.

Finally, for the last week or so, Ryen has been trying to walk.  We will get a step here and then a huge lunge at the closet person, but nothing more than that.  Then last night, she decided that she was going to start walking from one piece of furniture to another all on her own.  Of course, we continued to practice this morning and she did this.  Shortly afterwards she went to take a nap.  It must have been hard work!  Or it could explain why she was so excited to get up at 6:15 this morning!

Happy Frigid New Year!

Okay so the frigid part of the title is relative to where you are living.  All my family in Arizona, feel free to enter in the adjective of your choice (warm, pleasant, not freezing).  Even though it has been a chilly start to 2014, we have kept busy!  Just before the new year, we had Ryen's 9 month pictures taken and loved them, as always!

A couple weekends ago, Avery and I had a little day together.  After grabbing lunch we met Aunt Ashley to go see Frozen for our second time!  Auntie Ashley arrived with gifts for Avery and Avery got to try her very first slurpee!

The girls and I also headed to Chicago to celebrate Lucas' 5th birthday a bit early!  The kids got to decorate their own pizzas and cupcakes....win win for everyone!

Also this past weekend, Avery started dance class.  It is called Creative Dance- they learn rhythm (yeah, she is my kid so good luck),  counting and some beginner dance fundamentals.

And finally, 2 weeks ago Ryen hit the 10 month mark!  I don't know where time has gone.  She is growing up so quickly.  Currently, she still has only 2 teeth, although the doctor seems to think many more are working their way through right now which would explain her crankiness.  She has learned to climb stairs and other objects to get on top of other objects, she is eating new foods all the time- favorites now: mandarin oranges, graham crackers, and goldfish.

Apparently, I didn't get a 10 month picture of Avery, so here is the best I can do!

And here's a little video (ok it is long, so watch what you want!)  Here is my disclaimer:
1.  This is a not a video showing how much we care about the Earth.  Yes, the water is running the entire time, no we don't always just let the water run.
2.  This is a video on Ryen discovering the properties of water in its liquid state.  She is a genius.
3.  Yes, she has a pacifier in the bathtub.  See above where we think she has many teeth coming.
4.  Enjoy!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  Our holiday was busy and chaotic and messy and just the way we like it.  We started at Dave's parents' house on Christmas Eve.  This was her first gift- it is a talking monkey.  It has over 100 phrases, sleeps, snores, burps and farts.  His eyes blink regularly and in all honesty, it kind of creeps me out. BUT....Avery loves it and I suppose that is all that matters.  

Dave and I each made some gifts this year- I made this board for each of the moms, some mason jar center pieces and Dave made Ashley a wine rack.

Ryen even managed to hang out later than her normal 7:45 bedtime.  This bottle was at about 9:30....

I was up before everyone on Christmas morning....is it supposed to be that way?  Ryen wasn't too excited about presents.....

 ....but Avery was a different story!

We opened gifts from Santa-

And Avery tried to give this Lalaloopsey to Daddy because "it was his favorite and Santa didn't bring him one".

Even after gifts, there was some time for a Christmas morning snuggle.

We hosted Christmas Day this year.  Dave's parents joined us as well as my parents, the Antfellners, and Ashley and Patrick.  There was great food, gift giving, and a Carrion tradition- Christmas carols sung by the fireplace!

Ryen received some musical instruments for Christmas including a drum.  She is a big music fan...especially when Uncle Patrick is playing:

Shortly after everyone headed home on Thursday, Avery asked to cuddle and watch a movie.  This was her five minutes later:

Even after napping, the girls (and Dave and I) were exhausted from the craziness of Christmas.  We wouldn't change it for anything.  This was the girls around 7pm on Thursday night:

One of Avery's Christmas gifts from Santa was her very own kitten.  Santa left a note explaining that she would need to go to the shelter in town with us and she could pick one out.  Throughout our process of "considering" (yes, there are quotes because I am not sure how much thought we actually put into this!) getting her a kitten, we had heard lots of advice from people.  The number one piece:  Get 2.

On Friday, I called the shelter and they had zero kittens!  Luckily our friends came through with 2 boy kittens that are about 5 months old.  They both have shots and have been fixed.  So, please welcome our newest additions-

The black one is named Kitten Love (by Avery) and the gray one is named Kanobi (as in Obi-Wan named by Dave).

Ryen of course went right for the ears.  This will be loads of fun....

We were so excited to have them in our home - until 4:45AM Saturday morning.  Kanobi decided to sleep under our bed, but his brother couldn't find him.  So Kitten Love stood in front of our door meowing constantly.  Finally, he was taken back down into the laundry room for the night.  Today seems to be a bit better of an adjustment.  We hear it can take several days for them to warm up.  Fingers are crossed.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that you have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve!  Best wishes to you and your family in 2014!!

Happy Holiday Happenings

Ever since Thanksgiving happened, we have been busy, busy, busy!  From decorating to preschool concerts, and photo sessions to getting ready for Christmas, I am not sure we have stopped all month.  Here's what we have been up to!

The weekend of Thanksgiving, we headed out to get our family Christmas tree!  We were very excited, Dave especially, about going and cutting down our own tree at a tree farm.  (Yes, feel free to think Christmas vacation- I was)  However, this was the best tree on the lot- no joke!

 

  So it was back to Casey's to buy our tree.  I was told that I could not get anything over 7 feet tall.  Avery and I came home with an 8-1/2 foot  tree.  :)

We also attempted to make a Gingerbread house.  This was this first one I have ever made, so we bought a kit.  The kit had many broken pieces, so we made an open concept home.

Avery had her very first Christmas concert with her preschool class.  This was such a big deal, that both sets of grandparents came down to watch her "performance".  And that it was.

She was pretty excited once she was on stage.  However, she spent a lot of time moving her dress around, sat down at one point, and then in a nice quiet moment, turned around and told the kid behind her to leave her alone (in her nice loud voice) because he was pulling her hair.  We were very proud.  :)

At the very end, all the kids were supposed to yell Merry Christmas...check out who did it a bit early!  :)

And then of course there was the cookie reception afterwards.

We also had our pictures taken with Santa and our favorite photographer.  Avery even got a little story read to her.  :)

We have had our first big snowstorm....and now it is gone.  The girls were very excited about it!  By the end of that day, Avery had built a fort and a snowman and had gone sledding.  

Ryen turned 9 months old and getting this picture was quite the challenge!  This girl is on the move constantly!!  She is currently 16.9 pounds (21st percentile), and 30 inches tall (50th percentile).  She is the happiest baby which makes everything easier.  She is a wonderful sleeper - 7:45pm- 7am plus 2 naps throughout the day.  Her first tooth finally popped through this week with another one close behind.

Remember how I said she is always on the move- well, she opened this drawer and crawled in herself.  We might be in trouble.

We have also been working on a little bit of sign language and simple words like cup and food, but this is what we get from Ryen regardless if she is happy, sad, needing something or tired.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!!
Love,
Dave, Nikki, Avery & Ryen