Down on the Farm

One of Mark's crew members lives on a farm with her parents (and something like 7 siblings... I lost count) and invited us to bring the kids over to check things out.

We saw baby bunnies...

...baby chicks...

... and mama chickens.
The animals were were fun, but not the highlight. They took us down to the creek on the property and the kids had a blast throwing rocks into the water (yeah, Ava throws like a girl).
They each made new friends, too. Ava followed around "that girl" for a while before grabbing her hand and deeming her a new friend. (Her name is Grace, which was confusing to Ava since that's her middle name. Her little mind simply couldn't make sense of it, so Grace was "that girl.")

Even Carter made a friend. Poor guy got stuck carrying Carter all over since Carter kept finding him and wanting him to hold him... even with Daddy there!

They say...

... the second trimester of pregnancy brings about the end of the nausea as well as a burst of energy. While I'm glad to say the nausea is mostly gone, I'm still waiting on that energy! Not only do I feel sapped about 30 minutes after I wake up, if I am still for more than 5 minutes, I get up hardly able to move because I'm so stiff. I'm trying to eat more healthy foods (rather than the junk I've been craving), drink more water (oddly enough, water made me nauseous for the first few months), and hoping for some nicer weather so we can go for walks more often. Perhaps these things will renew my energy a bit.

Ava says some of the funniest things - I suppose all kids her age tend to repeat phrases they've heard, but use them out of context or just say strange things, but when it's YOUR little person saying them, they are especially endearing. And, perhaps they're only funny to me and Mark, but I'll share some anyway. Often, when I ask her if she knows where something is, she'll reply with a "yes." My follow-up of, "Where?" is met with a, "It must be around here somewhere." She sometimes will know where the object in question is, so I continue to ask, but I now come to expect the, "it must be around here somewhere" response. She's also started saying, "I love everyone." I don't know if this is to cover the bases without actually having to list everyone, but it comes at the most random times and we wonder what in her little head prompts her to remind us of her all-encompassing love. Mark compared it to one of those dolls with a string you pull that says random phrases. If they ever make an Ava doll with a pull string, "I love everyone" will be her phrase.

Carter also never stops making us laugh. A few weeks ago, I watched a little girl his age for a few hours. Her parents had only been gone maybe 30 seconds before Carter was throwing his arms around her. She looked startled. Next thing I know he's trying to kiss the poor terrified girl. I quickly rescued her. He's starting to say more words. Mark worked with him quite some time on "please." Now that he can say it, I can't get enough. I have to make sure to get in on tape as I love hearing him ask, "Peeeeese?" Another thing I've been trying to get on tape is his sad face. While he's happy and content most all the time, when he gets upset, it's instant and, for lack of a better word, BIG (and yet still somehow adorable... not good!). I honestly cannot figure out how he is able to contort his face into such a huge frown. This is as close as I've been able to come (usually because his pouting rarely lasts long and I can't get the camera on and picture taken before he's done).

Birds, Burritos, Braids, and Ben

I've finally been feeling better the past few weeks, and we've been greatly enjoying spending time outside. Of course, every spring Ava has to adjust to the sounds of outside once again. She has always been afraid of loud noises and since we've had the windows closed all winter, she has forgotten the loud trucks and motorcycles we hear with frequency from our house. She'll be playing outside when suddenly there's a loud noise of some sort and she screams and comes running. I also hear several times a day, "Mommy, I'm scared of noises." At least I know once she's used to the sounds again, she'll be fine. Today, we were outside and the birds were chirping away. I asked Carter if he heard them and he did this:
He is so expressive and is always making us laugh. While not exactly funny, lately when he is upset (often after being told, "no"), he throws himself face down on the floor and just lies there. Good thing he can't seem me as I giggle at his antics. He also still loves to eat. Since I've been snacking all day long these days (it often helped the all-day nausea I was experiencing), he's also turned into a mooch. As soon as he notices I'm eating something, he's in front of me with a big smile, signing, "Please," and saying, "Bite?" Sometimes Mark brings dinner home from Chipotle and before he was always happy with beans and rice or a cheese quesadilla, but the one night, he pushed them away and instead asked for a bite of Mark's burrito. I wouldn't be surprised if he could eat an entire one by himself very soon.

Last week, Ava let me braid her hair for the first time ever. Every other time I've tried, she stops me and pulls it out. I finally used bribery. She asked if she could watch Cinderella and I said she could if I could braid her hair. It worked! She really hates to have her hair messed with, so I was thankful she finally gave in. I could use some more practice, but it turned out pretty good and was a great way to keep her hair out of her face.
Our friend Ben was over for a couple hours that same afternoon. Ava LOVES Ben and he seems to be okay with her, too. The entire time Ava would randomly yell, "Come on, Ben!" and he would dutifully follow wherever she led. Carter never responds so readily to her demands, so she was in heaven.
I know Ben doesn't look too thrilled with this hug, but to be fair, Ava did take him away from the truck he was playing with. You shouldn't mess with boys and their trucks.

I love this picture I got of Ava today:

Hopefully, in about a month, I'll be posting with the news of whether we'll be welcoming a boy or a girl this fall (although, I will try and update before then)! Tomorrow marks week 15 and my doctor usually schedules the ultrasound for around week 20. We have several good friends also expecting this fall and keep hearing of more. Should be an exciting time.

Where have we been?

It's been far too long, but I promise, I have a good excuse! Baby Button #3 is expected to arrive on or around September 27!

In addition to several bouts of sickness going through our house, I have been dealing with the all-day nausea that I'm lucky enough to get with each pregnancy. I've had very little motivation to do anything other than what's absolutely necessary, which includes updating this. Mark has been taking excellent care of me and the kids are getting to watch lots of videos these days while I rest on the couch. I am grateful for the timing - since it's too cold to play outside most days, I don't feel too guilty for keeping everyone cooped up inside, since we'd be here anyway. I'm hoping to feel better in a couple weeks, and hopefully the weather will be nicer and we can get outside. I can tell Ava especially is starting to get bored being home all the time.

We did get one good snow and the kids loved playing in it. Every time we get the smallest flurries, Ava has asked if she could go play in the snow, so I was glad we got at least one snow good enough to play in! If only we had some good hills around here. Ohio is far too flat!

Christmas

December was a somewhat crazy month at our house. I was shipping items like crazy - close to 500 packages, most of them the 2 weeks before Christmas. Needless to say, I didn’t do all those Christmas-type things I wanted like baking cookies or even getting many decorations up other than the tree and a bare minimum of ornaments on it! In addition to being busy, we also had several unexpected expenses (Ava breaking her arm and some car issues). However, being busy sending packages meant we had the funds to cover the unexpected expenses, so God does take care of us! Still, it didn’t feel much like Christmas. Thankfully, we were able to get away to Maryland for Christmas where we had a fabulous time.

Making pumpkin pies with Nana

Carter loved this rocking chair and was so good at getting it going... and I love the face.

Christmas morning

Chair made by Nana (technically for Carter, but we share most everything at our house)

Enjoying the pie made earlier with NanaWearing Daddy’s hatI have some more pics to post, but this will have to do for now! We also visited the National Aquarium in Baltimore and I have some other random holiday pics and stories to share.

Moving Up!

This past Sunday was Ava's first in a real Sunday school class. She's too old for the nursery! When I picked her up, we had crafts and papers to bring home. I was so proud of her pipe cleaner candy canes and colored picture... and then immediately realized this would be coming every week. I'll have to tone down my pride so I'm able to throw away what I know will be amazing creations! Below is Ava with Miss Betsy, who watches the 2-year olds every Sunday morning. Ava has loved going to "Miss Betsy's house" every week to play with her friends. Around the time she started seeing Miss Betsy every week, we also added prayer time to our bedtime routine. At first, I would pray and ask Ava who she was thankful for, giving her suggestions like Daddy and Carter. Grandparents were added and one day she included Miss Betsy and has prayed for her every night since, and we'll keep praying for her as she recently and very unexpectedly lost her husband. It's hard to believe in another 7 months Carter will be in her class! My brother and I never really enjoyed having to play duets together on the piano. Perhaps they'll be more willing? Carter saw me eating with chopsticks and HAD to try it himself.
And, I work for a friend who sells electronics online (I do a lot of the shipping as well as some record-keeping and such). I had brought in a large box of units boxed up and Carter had a great time taking these out of the box and stacking them, then putting them back in the box. While I was making dinner, he and Ava decided they needed to be covering the steps (I love the poses I get every time I get out the camera).

Black Friday Shopping

Check out our awesome Black Friday deal!

Okay, so we haven't gotten the bills, yet, and I forgot to ask if the hospital was running any Black Friday deals on casts, so I'm not sure if we got a good deal (financially speaking) or not, but as far as broken arms go, I think we got off pretty easily.

Right before lunch on Tuesday, Ava and Carter were playing nicely, walking across the room holding hands. Carter tripped and not only pulled Ava down, but also failed to let go of her hand causing her to land on her wrist instead of catching herself with her hand. She clutched her arm and cried, but I couldn't tell how serious it was. We proceeded with lunch after she calmed down, and I was checking her arm every few minutes for swelling or some other sign that she needed to see a doctor. Once she was down for a nap, I called the pediatrician and a nurse told me to see if she started using the arm again and if not, I should call in the morning for an appointment (they didn't have any left that day). She did seem better after her nap, but later that evening tried to push herself up off the floor and it was as if she hurt it all over again. We went to the doctor first thing on Wednesday, then for x-rays which confirmed it was broken, then back to the doctor to immobilize the arm until she could get in to get a cast on Friday. They gave us a sling, which was really too big on Ava to truly be effective, but we tried! The truly crazy thing is our good friends' daughter, who is a year older than Ava (almost to the day), fell and broke her arm on Thanksgiving day!

Wednesday afternoon, we drove down to WV to spend Thanksgiving with the Button's! Ava was very excited about going, so I'm thankful her injury wasn't so severe we needed to stay home. We had a great time and Ava especially loved playing with her cousin Chloe. At one point Thursday afternoon, I thought they were awfully quiet and I should check on them (quiet sounds like a good thing, but sometimes it means trouble!). They were back on Ava's "bed" looking at her princess book, one of her most prized possessions.

Making faces (that sling is working so well, don't you think?)
Getting some last tickling in with Poppy before heading home.

Friday morning, we headed to Children's and Ava got her cast. As I predicted, she originally picked black for the cast color, but we suggested purple to see if she might change her mind and she did. I don't know why, but she loves black! Not necessarily in clothing, but in crayons or play-doh, she is always drawn to black. So strange! She'll get the cast off the week before Christmas.

Hope your Thanksgiving was a little less exciting!