He is 18months!

Well by the time I am actually writing this he is already 20 months.  Only 4 short months until he is two...blah!  Can't believe it is all I can say.

We went for our appointment and unlike his usual attitude at the doctor, he sat patiently in the kiddie chair.

 Big boy!  He weighed 28lbs 8oz (60 percentile) and was 34" tall (75th percentile).  He continues to be great eater.  He loves spicy food, all fruits and veggies.  Not a fan of mac-n-cheese or noodles.

He received his DTAP and his second dose of the flu shot.  He was suppose to have his MMR since we opted to push it back to his 18month appointment.  However, since he had to have the 2nd dose of his flu we decided not to combine those two vaccines and wait until his 2yr to get his MMR.  This made mama happy!

 Well life with this 18month old is quite different than my previous experience with Ava.  He is my snuggle bug, lovey dovey, sweet meat one moment.  Then my rough-n-tumble, demanding, wild thing.  He is all BOY!  When he is good he is the definition of good, but when he is naughty wow you better watch out.

Here he is standing on the oven drawer trying to get a "nack" (snack) off the counter when I already told him no.

 This boy is smart!  I was so worried because 1) he's a boy, 2) he is the second child that he wouldn't talk as well or as early as Ava.  Well wrong again about this one.  We have another talker on our hands.  He says up to 8 word sentences, words like dinosaur (he can even identify a picture of aT-Rex and a Tri-ceratops).  He is not afraid to tell you what he wants and will repeat his demands until you oblige.

 Best shot with the traditional sign...no staying still for this boy!

 Thought he was funny with my camera lens cap.

 Clearly not happy here.  He has had a horrible time with cutting the last two molars and his central incisors (eye teeth). He pretty much has not slept through he night since the last week of November.  They are almost in so we'll be glad to get back to normal. Thank goodness he is still taking 2 naps though.

 Better now :)  For those of you wondering, he has not had his first haircut...only a tiny trim of the "bangs".  He'll get it cut soon enough and right now I'm getting all I can of his beautiful wavy hair.

 Uh oh...better watch out!  Looks like someone is about to get kicked, hit, head butted or bit.  Yes I am not proud, that I have one of "those kids" on my hands.  He doesn't do it to other children (other than Ava)  and plays really well with other kids. For whatever reason he just feels the need to do these things to me, Nick or Ava.  What can I say other than he is a typical impulsive boy.

Well that's my BB.  Wouldn't trade him for the world and so blessed to have this sweet loving wild thing keeping me on my toes!

January...

First of all, Happy New Year!  I really hate only updating our blog monthly, but I have to accept that is just the way it is right now.  January was a fun but strange month.  Our new year was great, low key...but not complaining.  Ava went back to school for 4 days then a HUGE ice/snowstorm came.  We got about 3 inches of snow topped with about 2-3 inches of ice.  We didn't thaw out for a solid week and schools were out for 5 days.  We had fun attempting to play outside, but the ground was solid from the ice and didn't make for much fun.

They had fun driving the gator they got for Christmas around the yard.

My sweet BB wasn't too sure about the cold, but he eventually decided it was better than being cooped up inside.

Ava as usual just makes the best of the situation and has fun!

Happy now that he is swinging.

Kind of out of order, but you can tell how thrilled he was to be outside...even though he was still in the garage.

Pretty upset here.  Maybe it was because he was wearing Ava's hand-me-down pink snow bibs.

Finally a warm day and a sweet picture of my Ava girl.

Towards the end of he month, Ava had her Father/Daughter Dance at school.  I was on the dance committee so I was one of the lucky moms that actually got to "work" the dance and sneak in some pictures.

 The whole dance might have been one of the sweetest things I have ever seen.  Over a hundred grown men danced the night away (fast & slow) without any hesitation.  Nick was such a good sport and well... we all know he wasn't given the gift of rhythm.

 Two of my loves and what a special memory.

 Poor girl was starting to fight a virus.  She really started to feel bad at the end, and ended up running a high fever for the next few days.

So far 2011 has gotten off to a pretty great start, and we look forward to a year full of many great more memories.

Happy Birthday JESUS!

After a quick night's sleep the kiddos were super excited and ready to see if Santa came.  We made them wait upstairs as we checked to see if Santa was able to find us in Cornelia.  Needless to say from all the pictures below...he did.  

 Group shot...matching PJ's and all.  You can imagine how thrilled Nick was to see the green plaid pajama pants Mimi and bought for him.  He was a good sport though and it made the day even more special.

 First everyone opened up their stockings.

 My two matching babies.  Does anyone know how hard is to find cute Pj's for a 5yr old girl and a 18month old boy?  Harder than one would think, so thank you Hana Anderson!

 Santa brought Bennett a new train table!

Papa Santa.  He has been wearing this hat since I can remember.

 Mimi and Papa Guy got Ava and Bennett a Gator.  Only spot left in the room was on the dining room table.

 Do you think she is excited???

 Just give him a Seseme Street book and he is good to go.

 New Tonka dump truck and hard hat from Chris & Julie

 A new painting for me!

 Love them!  So glad Julie could be with us on Christmas!

 My boys

 After a great breakfast, a little dance competition on the Kinect, and a little nap for B, we headed over to Gigi & G-Paw for more great food, family & presents.

 Uh Oh...you know it's serious when Mimi gets out her "Do Right" spoon.  Bennett was none to pleased with her.

 Ava and her Mimi

 By little Elves.  Probably one of the only pictures I could get of them together.

 Sweet sweet girl

 BB and his Papa

 Group shot after a great day!

 How can it be??? Everyone is looking at the camera.

 We actually ended up having a white Christmas.  It started snowing during breakfast and kept snowing all night.

 The day after Christmas and finally getting to play in the snow!  Bennett was not too sure.

 Ava on the other hand was in pure heaven!

 Finally when Mimi hit him with a snowball he decided the snow was pretty fun. 

 Testing out the new gator...watch out she's driving!

 Love this picture of them!

We had a wonderful Christmas, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate Christ's birth.  He has blessed us in so many ways, and we are thankful we know a loving, forgiving savior.  Happy Birthday JESUS!