AJ. 3 years old

I have started a questionaire for the kids each year starting at 3 yrs old. I decided to video tape Avery and will ask her the same questions each year and record her answers on the same DVD. It will be fun to watch the whole thing back when she is older and see how much she has changed.

These are Avery's questions and answers;

1. What is your favorite color? green
2. What is your favorite toy? a slide
3. What is your favorite fruit? tomatoes
4. What is your favorite tv show? little einsteins
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? she was being silly and said bicycles because she was watching one go by... haha. PB&J
6. What is your favorite outfit? what she had on. dresses
7. What is your favorite game? hungry games (ie candyland)
8. What is your favorite snack? oatmeal, lol
9. What is your favorite animal? tracy, her monkey
10. What is your favorite song? How does she know, from the movie Enchanted
11. What is your favorite book? berenstein bears
12. Who is your best friend? Lily, emma and emme
13. What is your favorite cereal? honey nut cheerios
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? play
15. What is your favorite drink? chocolate milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? thanksgiving
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? her animals
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? "I already talked about that" she makes me laugh. Cereal
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? pizza
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  a lion like Liam(her first answer). doctor

Back to work...

For those of you who haven't heard I am headed back to work. I start Indoc (company procedures) class this coming Monday. Its only a week long and then I'll get almost 2 weeks off for a computer-based home study and then back for systems class and simulator sessions. I'll be flying the Embraer, a regional jet.

This is a pic of my new bird. No more turbo props for me! Lots of automation! :) I can't tell exactly what kind of schedule I will be able to hold but most likely 3days on 4 off or 2day/2day trips with 3days off. Even though Chris and I will bid opposite schedules we will still get some days off together especially with Chris on reserve (he is often on call but sits at home!).  I am excited and nervous about going back. Excited to get back in the air and do something I love. But also nervous to be gone from my babies alot and also go through training after being out for almost 3 years!! Hopefully its like riding a bike. Wish me luck :)))

ONE YEAR OLD!!

Our "little" guy is ONE!!

--impossible to get him to sit still, all he wanted to do was tear off the sticker!--

• Liam has been such a blessing to our family. I can't imagine life without him.
• Hard to believe a year ago today he was born and spent 12 days in the hospital(11 in the NICU). You would never know it just to look at him!
• He has his 1yr check up tomorrow I can't wait to see how much he's grown.
• He has already taken a few steps but is still pretty wobbly. I doubt it'll take much longer and he'll be off and running!
• He has become more vocal this month, still mostly baby babble but "dada" is his favorite along with "aGah" which we think means "I got it" and also "gaga" which makes Gramma happy!
• His favorite toy this month was sister's trampoline. He loved that he could climb up on it himself and would try to bounce. He loved it if I got on there and bounced him. He would just giggle and then throw a fit as soon as I got off.
• He can throw a fit quicker than you can think about it.
• Liam wants to eat whatever we are eating and for the most part he eats pretty well, as long as its cut up nice and small.
• He does the funniest thing when he crawls, he shakes his head back and forth like he's dancing to music. He loves music and dancing.
• He got a Cozy Coupe ("beep beep") car for his birthday and loves opening and closing the door, especially when it is locked, the lock is just a plastic slide but he lets out deep belly giggles when he gets it open.
• Mommy is still his favorite person and he gets very upset if I leave him or am not picking him up. I love the snuggles especially since I know they won't last forever...
• Hard to believe a year ago we were all scared and worried about our little guy who was taken to the NICU before I could even hold him. God had a plan for him and he has been so healthy since then. Can't wait to see what else is in store for him.
• We celebrated his first birthday at our neighborhood pool yesterday. It was a hot and humid 106 degrees but he had a great time. By the time we brought out the cake he was so tired he wasn't hardly interested in it. My camera also broke the night before so I'm waiting to compile all of our friends and family's pics to post!

Happy 1st Birthday Liam David Rhodes!!

11 months old

Liam is 11 months old!!

• This was a big month for our little guy, he went in his first airplane ride(he even fell asleep in the airport during our day long sit!), first trip to the beach and also the lake!
• You can hardly keep him still anymore, he wants down and is fast at crawling away.
• He's getting better at standing but hasn't taken any steps yet, he still just belly flops expecting you to catch him!
• Liam LOVES the water! He's is a water baby for sure.
• He has finally started eating people food. He has eaten baby puffs, crackers, cheese, blueberries, cake and pizza. I know, cake already? He grabbed sissy's cupcake crumbs before I could grab him. He sure liked it too!
• He needs a haircut but I just can't bring myself to do it yet. Probably before his 1yr pics!
• I love when Liam starts to smile and then he smiles so big his nose crinkles up and his eyes squint into slivers.
• He loves to play with Avery's kitchen, opening and closing the doors.
• If he sees me(Mom) he thinks I should be holding him and will fuss and cry till I pick him up!
• He has started showing disinterest in nursing. He will nurse for a minute or 2 and then want down to crawl around. I can usually coax him back but again only for a minute or 2. weaning may be sooner than planned...
• He is still baby babbling but can say mama and dada when he wants.
• One of his favorite games is for me to chase him while he tries to crawl away, he will crawl some then sit up and look back at me. When I tell him I'm gonna get him he squeals/giggles and crawls some more.
• He doesn't go back to the doc till he's 1 but I weighed him on our bathroom scale and it said he was 22lbs!
• He officially has 7 teeth!!! 4 on top and 3 on bottom.

I can't believe he'll be ONE next month! We love you little man!

10 months old

Our little man is 10 months old!

• This has been a busy month for Liam. He started crawling a few days after he turned 9 months old! He loves his new freedom.
• He also stood on his own for about 10 seconds at the beginning of this month
• Its so nice that I can set him down and walk away and he doesn't throw a fit because he can just crawl around!
• His favorite toy this month was the entertainment center, he was completely fascinated by opening and closing the glass door and taking out ALL of the DVD's!
• Holy teeth, Liam now has 2(almost 3) teeth on top and 3 on bottom
• These teeth have caused more sleep issues, Momma was up from 1am-4am one night and the next day daddy had to drive around so he would nap. His poor nose was so stopped up for awhile so he couldn't breathe with the paci in his mouth. Once that top tooth broke through he was much better
• He has started clapping and waving this month!
• He LOVES to give kisses and he's started puckering up for them *MUAH*
• Liam HATES having his diaper changed, he tries to roll over immediately and as soon as his diaper is off he rolls and tries to crawl away. A few days ago he got away, stood up at the coffee table and pee'd on the carpet. That was a first!
• He still loves to make this high pitched, deep throat shriek, its kinda scary to hear the first time but he loves to make "his noise" especially in the car.
• He now takes all of his baths with his sister, sitting up in the tub. He does really well and doesn't ever mind water in his face.
• I think his hair has gotten a little lighter but still brown and his eyes are a beautiful blue. His eyelashes have also gotten longer!
• Avery refuses to call him "bubba" anymore, he is "Liam"!
• It isn't even June yet and Liam is pretty tan, looks like he got chris' skin tone :)

HAPPY 10 MONTH BIRTHDAY LIAM!

Liam crawling

Our little guy is on the move!!!

He loves that big bear. He's gotten much faster after just a few days. Look out World!!

Avery meeting Liam

I am way behind on posting videos but I wanted to get this one up before I forget. This is the video of Avery meeting Liam for the first time. This was the night before we took him home and his first night out of the NICU;

We didn't realize till later that she was trying to say "paci". Of course she noticed that he had a paci in his mouth!

9 months old

Liam is now 9 months old!

• Liam now has not one but TWO teeth! all on the bottom. When these were coming through he had a few difficult nights. His top 2 teeth are very close to breaking through the skin.
• Today at his 9mo check up he weighed in at 21lbs 9.5oz(75th percentile) and was 27.5inches long(40th percentile). His doctor said he looks great, he's even slimmed down some :P
• He has started pulling up on things and enjoys standing, in fact, he thinks he can stand on his own and tries to let go of your fingers. He can only stand a second or two and then either sits or falls down!
• We have a biter, this has made nursing very difficult lately. I'm hoping(and praying) I won't have to start pumping exclusively.
• This little guy is still a great sleeper, he had a few rough nights when his teeth were coming in but once they broke through the skin he went back to sleeping all night without waking up.
• At the beginning of this month he learned how to sit up from his tummy. He usually plays for a few minutes before going to sleep.
• Liam is a quite a wiggle worm, he never wants to sit still. I'm afraid I will have to watch him VERY closely when he starts crawling because he'll probably be into everything.
• He thinks the funniest word is No. Anytime I tell him No he gets the biggest smile and laughs!
• Still no crawling yet. When he does get on his knees he either pushes to a sitting up position or goes flat on his belly. :)
• He got to experience his first swim, haha. We bought the kids a small wading pool for the backyard. He loved it, he kicked and splashed like crazy.
• He has his own cute way of clapping, he claps his hands down on his legs. He has also started waving but will only do it when he wants to!
• He hasn't really started finger foods, I've given him a few puffs but he just gags and chokes so we're going to wait a few weeks and try again. His doctor said that some babies just take a little longer to start feeding themselves and can be sensitive to textures. 

I just had to add this picture. He gave his big bear a kiss!! this little guy is such a sweetheart(in a masculine way of course, lol)!

Happy 9 month birthday Liam David!

8 months old

my EIGHT month old!! WOW

• He tried puffs this month but he did not like them. He also tried a Mum-mum and made the funniest faces, he did not like it but kept on eating it. I will probably wait till he gets some teeth before trying any puffs again.
• He has started rocking on his hands and knees, I think crawling is just around the corner
• He rolls ALL over the place.
• He FINALLY started saying "ma-ma". I was afraid all he would ever say was da-da. :)
• If this little guy can reach it it goes in his mouth... definitely keeps me on his toes.  I've caught him with a piece of a foam airplane in his mouth, he was chewing it, even though he has no teeth.
• He still naps so easily, one little song and then we put him down. he may roll for a few minutes but never fusses and then just goes to sleep.
• his has found his tongue and loves to stick it out. he also likes to make an "O" face. he usually does one or the other
• Boy oh boy has the mommy anxiety kicked in, this little guy loves his momma. If I turn to walk away from him, even just to reach behind me for something, he MELTS down. As soon as he can see my face again he is fine. XOXO
• Liam loves stuffed animals, he gets so excited when he sees one of Avery's animals, especially mickey and minnie mouse. He reaches for it and their nose goes right into his mouth. yum! haha!
• One of his favorite tricks is to take his fist to his mouth, say "aaaa" and bring it back and forth to his mouth, sounds like an indian chant.
• He is wearing mostly 9 mo clothes and some 12 mo.
• Next month he will go for his 9 month check up, can't see what he officially weighs now.

Happy 8 month birthday Liam David! we love you more and more each day!

Big girl bed

Today is another big day in the world of Avery Jo. Her toddler rails for her crib arrived today. Naptime was a little rough, she took about 2.5 hrs to finally fall asleep. I think she was just too excited after being at Papa and Gramma's house and then her new found freedom with her bed.  Liam was just all smiles, as usual! Tonight is her first night wearing her big girl panties instead of a diaper and I'm expecting an accident but we'll see. She has been mostly waking up dry and 2 nights ago actually woke chris up to take her potty at about 2am! Here we go....

7 months old

Liam is 7 months old! unbelievable

• We have finally introduced some new foods to little man. He's had oatmeal cereal, squash, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, apples and prunes. He doesn't really care for the veggies except the peas and jarred squash. He also only likes to eat them if they're really watered down, kind of like baby soup! He really likes his fruits so far though! I did give him bananas but they seemed to just come back up so we'll wait another month till we try them again.
• His eyes are still mostly blue but have alot more green in them, almost hazel now
• I'm still surprised that I can still move Liam from his carseat to his bed when he falls asleep in the car, and he stays asleep!!! I don't remember being able to do that with Avery past a few months old
• His mommy anxiety has kicked up this past month. He does not like being put down and left alone. He tends to melt down, even in his fun exersaucer or jumperoo.
• Liam really loves swinging in the baby swing on our back porch.
• Still no teeth! doesn't even feel like any are close to coming in
• Around the middle of this month Liam started having sleep issues. No longer would he be put down and fall asleep on his own. We had a few days filled with lots of crying. We would put him down on his tummy and he would automatically roll over onto his back. He did sleep twice on his back but only for 30 min and would then wake up crying. I had to practically hold him down and pat his back to get him to sleep. Whew. I think he was also getting over tired so I've been careful to watch his waketime and put him down right at the 2hr mark. He's back to taking 2 good 1.5-2hr naps (+ one evening catnap) and sleeping till 7:30/7:45 in the mornings!
• He has starting flirting, he will smile at someone and then hide his face. Its so cute
• Liam makes the funniest noises, he has started yelling! Avery thinks its funny to yell back and they go back and forth
• Avery loves to read to Liam, he is more interested in eating the book but its super cute
• He still puts EVERYTHING in his mouth
• He rolled over from his back to tummy! on 2/19. He will only do it when he really wants to but hopefully this will help minimize his sleep issues!
• Liam is so funny, he loves to cover up his face. Peekaboo is his favorite game but he will take a burp cloth and cover his face and kick and flail his arms. I thought maybe he was mad but when you take off the burp cloth you see this huge grin!!
• I weighed him on our bathroom scale this morning and he was 21lbs!
• He LOVES target, he will stop whatever he is doing(even nursing) to watch target walk by. He kicks and waves his arms and coos.
• Liam does this spastic arm flail/legs kick thing when he gets excited, its hilarious. Especially when he sees pictures. He loves to look at pictures, especially ones of his sister.

Love our little guy, Happy 7 month birthday!!

Monthly photo challenge

well if you haven't noticed I only made it half way through the february photo challenge! In my defense I really got behind the weekend my parents came to visit. But the photo topics weren't the easiest to do, plus my oldest kiddo does NOT like to have her picture taken. Its like pulling teeth to get her to stay still and smile for a second or 2. So you got 16 days of fun photos, I did enjoy what few I could snap. 7 month update coming soon... :)

Feb 16;{something new}

Oreos are celebrating their 100th anniversary so of course we had to try out their special "birthday cake" Oreos;

They were pretty good! our "something new" for today!

p.s. Avery had her first day wearing her big girl panties to school and she did great. no accidents!! :)

Feb 15;{phone}

Avery loves to talk on her many phones. She likes now for me to put my phone to my ear and "talk" to her. She also loves to call Gigi and Melissa. She's so funny.

Feb 14; {heart}

Happy Valentines Day!

 yes I'm one of "those" moms; I bribed Avery with an M&M to get her to smile for ONE picture!

 its hard to get them both to focus for a good pic :P

This last pic is Avery and her friends at Mothers Day Out. I brought her up for her Valentines party today. She is doing really well at potty training and hasn't had an accident in 3 days. I will probably let her go the full day on thursday. Happy Valentines day to all of our friends and family.

Feb 13;{blue}

The caption says it all. This is the happiest blue-eyed baby I've ever seen. He will giggle and smile just by looking at him. I love both of my 2 blue eyed kiddos.

Feb 12;{inside your closet}

Here is a peek in Avery's closet;

She is such a stinker. But the cutest stinker ever. Notice Daisy duck in her closet, its the only reason she was smiling. I told her I just wanted a picture of Daisy duck, not Avery. She thought she was being a stinker getting into the picture! oh the things we do to get a quick snapshot! :)

Feb 11;{makes you happy}

This pic is what makes Avery happy at this moment. She LOVES her M&M's. She gets 2 for going pee-pee in her potty and 5 for going poo-poo! She always asks for green and blue ones, her favorite color right now is green.

I shouldn't mention that we've bought about 3 bags of peanut butter M&M's but chris and I have collectively devoured them. yeah, pretty sure we're a family of choco-holics! :)

Feb 10; {self portrait}

Here is Avery's self portrait taken by herself with my phone;

She likes to snap many pics at one time usually of just her nose up :)

its just the angle, she's not that chunky she has really slimmed down lately, I'm pretty sure its because she jumps on her trampoline non stop!

Feb 9; {front door}

Well you may have noticed I skipped feb 8, The sun has been absent most of the days lately so I haven't captured this one yet. But here is our Feb 9{front door}; (still amazes me that she can reach and open the doors!!)

See anything different? Avery is wearing big girl panties... we have decided to attempt potty training this weekend. Today has been pretty good, better than I expected. She had some accidents this morning but has since gone 4 times on her own to the potty and pee pee'd. We'll see how it goes, I think she is ready but I will still put her in a diaper/pullup for naps and bedtime till she can hold it. Stay tuned...

Feb 7; {button}

Lately, Avery has decided she does not want to wear clothes. I know this is totally a toddler thing and really its pretty cute. She's good about putting on clothes when its time to go somewhere but undresses as soon as we get home. So I see alot of her cute little belly "button"! She's also holding her best friend, "bananas" the monkey. She has 2 (in case we lose one) and this one has a boo boo on his paw with a cute little bandaid from Gramma. Avery refuses to take it off, saying he's still got an "owie". She's such a hoot lately!

Feb 6; {dinner}

"dinner" tonight was a big flop (pinterest recipe). So there is no dinner pic :). Instead you get a pic of us shopping for dinner. Avery loves going to Tom Thumb because they have a car in the front of the cart that she can ride in. They even have cars for 2 kids, of course Liam is still too small but I did put him in to snap a quick picture.  On another note, I found Avery on the outside of her bed this afternoon. She was supposed to be napping but instead learned how to scale her crib. Oh dear, we've entered a new era. Her toddler rails are on order but will still be about 8 weeks from arriving. Tonight she seemed a little scared of her bed, hopefully she won't try to climb out again! We shall see.....

Feb 5 {10am}

Here is our 10am pic;

No, he didn't pull up by himself but he did hold on for a bit! little stinker!

feb 4 {a stranger}

Well, I wasn't really up for taking a picture of my kids with a stranger so this is what you get instead. My kiddos love their sock monkeys. Liam loves to "eat" his monkey and Avery doesn't sleep without her monkey she has named "bananas". Yes, I realize that Liam is wearing a pink sleepsak... I don't think it'll scar him too badly! :)

Feb 3; hands

Avery's newest thing is to be naked. She likes to strip down to her diaper and run around the house yelling "I nakey". She cracks me up. Today she also wanted some grapes so she got the whole bag out of the fridge and went to town! :)

Feb 2; words

These are the words I see everyday;

The words of children's books, but I wouldn't have it any other way! :) love my little bookworm

Photo Challenge

I have been so lax about taking pictures lately, some friends and I started a 52 photo challenge but I have to admit the weekly challenges have been a little out of my reach lately. I saw this on instagram(britni84);

Sounds like fun so even though I'm a day late I'm going to give it a try! I'm going to try to get Ave involved too, she enjoys taking pictures lately (way more than having her pic taken). I still can't believe its already February!
Here is day 1(my view today);

there may be days that are combined, life does get a bit crazy. but hopefully I can keep up and post some fun and different pics! :)

6 months

Holy cow our little guy is half a year old! where does the time go?

I couldn't help it, he had such cute pics today I couldn't just post one! :) Avery helped me get him to smile (which isn't hard to do)

• I know I've said it before, but this guy is such a HAM!
• He loves to squeal and yell LOUDLY! he has definitely found his voice and makes himself known.
• He can't quite reach his toes (I think his tummy gets in the way) but when I change his diaper he loves looking and grabbing at his toes.
• At the beginning of the month he mastered sitting up. He still falls over after sitting for awhile but sits up like a pro for the most part.
• Liam loves to look in the mirror or in my phone when I turn the camera around so he can see himself on the screen.
• He has gotten so good with his hands, if its in his reach he grabs for it and brings it straight to his mouth. I will definitely have to watch him.
• We were able to start nursing back again, thank goodness! I was afraid he might lose weight, LOL!
• @ his 6 month check up he weighed 19lbs 2oz (83rd percentile) and was 26 inches long(50th percentile). His pedi said he is doing great and sitting up very well for his age.
• We tried starting solids about 2 weeks ago since he was showing signs of being ready but he still tongue thrusted it all back out and then spit up about 20 min after eating. We'll probably try very soon since he's now 6 months old! *update, we started oatmeal 2 days ago and he's doing much better!
• He is very easily distracted these especially when he's nursing. The TV, Avery, a door closing, anything he hears causes him to stop and look around.
• Liam loves his sister. As soon as he sees her he smiles and coos. He always tries to grab for her when she is near and just stares at her.
• He still rolls from his belly to back but hasn't figured out to roll back to tummy.
• He has gotten up on his knees when on his belly a couple of times.
• Liam has been sleeping till around 7:30am most mornings (sometimes even 8:15) but occasionally he wakes around 5/6am just to talk and roll over. I let him play and after a little while of fussing I go in and give him his paci. He will usually go back to sleep. He has even found his paci on his own just this past week. He only rolls one way but can still move himself around on his belly, the other night he turned 180 degrees around. I had the camera set up watching him and by morning noticed all I could see was his backside.
• I finally gave in and started really putting him down for naps/nighttime awake. He has been doing good with it. I rock him, sing "twinkle twinkle" (Avery always has to come sing as well :)) and only rock for a minute or two then I put him down. He tends to fuss initially but it doesn't last too long! yay!

Happy 6 month birthday Liam David!!!

chunky man

Avery did the funniest thing the other day. I was sitting on the couch holding Liam and she walked up, squeezed his cheeks and said "chunky chunky man"! I just about died laughing. Ahhh... if you could've heard her little voice. I did finally capture her saying it but had to ask her to do it, not quite the same effect;

Love them together!

newest member

We have a new family member...

Meet Acadia;

 Chris and I have discussed for awhile now about wanting a car with more room. Anytime we want to bring along extra passengers(which we could only fit 1) they would have to squeeze between a toddler and infant carseat. We had been dreaming of a 3rd row and captain chairs. I always loved how my parent's van had captain chairs, especially with 2 kids (no middle seat to fight over). Chris did some research, number crunching and some hard praying and decided that now was the perfect time. We got a great deal and are so excited. Its more of a "mom mobile" but still not a mini van :). We got one with AWD so it can also pull the boat. We'll be rolling in style to the beach and the lake this summer!!

 Here are some pics of my kiddos lately. Liam is such a chunk, we just love his rolls!!! Does he not look so grown up here?

 Liam's first time in the stroller without his carseat! And Ave looking so cute!

Me and my baby girl! love her

Happy New Year

Our year in review;

January;

We announced to the world that we were expecting baby number 2!

February;

We discovered that our soon to be baby was in fact a baby BOY! Avery got to really play in the snow for the first time!

March;

We had fun at a couple playdates, I could really tell how independent Avery was becoming. We also celebrated all the March birthdays; Me, Chelsea, Rusty and Cindy.

April;

Nothing really big this month but we did celebrate Easter and Avery loved hunting for eggs.

May;

Avery got to go to the zoo and Great wolf Lodge (an indoor waterpark). She still talks about both. We also went to Oklahoma where my sister hosted a baby shower for Liam and I.

June;

This month was HOT and momma was big and tired!! :) We celebrated Chris' birthday and had a texas swim/babyshower!

July;

Liam David was born but was born with RDS(Respiratory Distress Syndrome) and spent 11 days in the NICU

August;

Avery got to meet her brother for the first time and we finally brought him home on Aug 3! This month Avery got to go out on the boat, she loved it!

September;

Avery started Mothers Day Out! We took a trip to Oklahoma to see Great Papa and Mommom, they got to meet Liam for the first time.

October;

We celebrated Avery's 2nd birthday at the pumpkin patch. Liam had become quite the little charmer and a chunk! Avery really enjoyed trick or treating this year on Halloween.

November;

We took several trips to Oklahoma. We also celebrated Thanksgiving in Arkansas with my side of the family and again in Texas with the Rhodes.

December;

Melissa got MARRIED! :)

The rest of this month was a little rough, I had a "fairly simple" outpatient surgery that landed me in the hospital(due to an infection) for 4 days just before Christmas. I am already looking forward to next Christmas because I still feel like I missed out this year. Just happy I was at least at home for Liam's 1st Christmas.

What a crazy and amazing year! Hands down the best moment was the birth of Liam. He has blessed our little family beyond my imagination. I'm pretty sure we have the most amazing kiddos around. Looking forward to seeing what 2012 has to offer :)

Happy New Year to all our friends and family!