Random December stuff :)

Some pictures from our lives the last few days of December!!

 Elmo really is a monster!!! Ava came in to the kitchen saying "Come look at Elmo!" Ava said they were teeth. I saw it more as a fierce horse eating monster. Either way, it gave Mommy and Daddy a good laugh!!

 I wonder if the frog will turn in to a princess?

Ava and Reese always lay down on their tummies as the water drains. They are such cute sisters!!! I figured that Reese is still at a baby bum showing age. Didn't heart out her bum in this picture.

Ava and Reese got some Mrs. Potato heads from our neighbors for Christmas! We had a little gift exchange with them today. They love them!!

 Ava and Reese playing with 3D chalk they got from Uncle Ro, Aunt Jackie and cousin Josslyn in California!

Poor Reese! They were too big and every time she looked down they would fall off. So.... she wasn't able to look at the chalk on the ground very well, but she got a kick out of looking silly!

Holding Mommy!!!

Oh my sweet, sweet Ava!!! To go along with my previous post about my SUPER thoughtful baby girl. Mommy burned her hand on the steamer in the kitchen tonight. Ava was so concerned!! I asked her to hold me. She got such a kick out of it!!! She didn't think she could hold her Mommy....

Ava!!

Ava.... where do I begin? What a perfect kid. I just don't know how to say it any other way. Of course she has her moments, and tests Mommy and Daddy's nerves at times, but I imagine something would be wrong if that never happened.
She has become such a help to me around the house! She loves to help unload the dishwasher, clean up (yes! clean up!!!!) and she has even taken a liking to helping Mommy fold laundry! She is an expert towel folder! When I throw a pile of clean laundry on the couch, she sifts through it to find the towels so she can fold them. I told her that the corners of the towel need to kiss when folding a towel. She is soooo cute! While she is folding them she makes a kiss sound as the corners come together. She makes me smile 100 million times a day!!! I just love her so much!!!
The most recent thing that she does that melts my heart.... when I stub my toe, or she accidentally whacks me in the face with something...she throws her arms around my neck and rubs my head while whispering "shhh, shhh." HEART MELTING!!!! She is just so sweet and tender. She is this way with her little sister too. I am just so happy that Ava is my eldest. I could not imagine a better mannered child to be my oldest. She never as much as raises her voice to her sister, when Reese is doing something unsafe (climbing) and I am not in the room I hear "Mommy!! Reese is doing something really dangerous and she might get hurt!"
Reese loves it when Ava holds her hand. Sometimes randomly, Reese will walk up to Ava and try to hold her hand. Ava always instantly stops what she is doing to hold her little sister's hand and take her for a walk through the house. It is so sweet!!!
She shows Reese how to play with certain toys, then hands Reese the mallet (or whatever it may be) and gives her a chance to try. Then she will take it back and say "No, you do it like this" and show her.
She shares.... a lot. At only age 4, she has a genuine concern for her sister's happiness which amazes me!! She is affectionate to Reese and has recently decided that Reese's slobbery kisses are not so bad after all. You can just wipe it off. They wrestle....and laugh. At the dinner table when Reese decides she is done and gets cranky because she wants to get down, Ava acts silly to distract her sister and make her laugh. There is absolutely nothing sweeter than the sound of both of your children laughing at each other. I wish I could bottle it as a drug for the way it makes me feel!

Reese!!

I absolutely love every ounce of this tiny, mischievous soul in my house. Reese is quite the character. She grabs things she knows she shouldn't, brings them to me to show me what she has, and then runs away laughing. OH my goodness!! This kid kills me. She is a climber too! I can't keep her on the ground! She has fallen and bonked her head more time than I can count, yet the moment she stops crying... she is at it again!
She has taken a recent liking to teasing her big sister too!! She will go into Ava's room and get Ava's orange kitty (Ava's favorite stuffed animal), then she will yell "Aaaaava....Avaaaa!!!" Ava comes, Reese holds up the kitty to show Ava, then turns and hauls just as fast as her little legs will carry her. Then I am dealing with a whining Ava, "Reese has my orange kitty!!" Ava is a pretty well mannered child though, which I am SO thankful for! Rather than snatch it back from Reese, hit, scream, all that crazy stuff, Ava will just come tell me what is happening in a whiny voice. We are working on our "Can I please have that back?" and Reese has taken to it very well! As long as Ava asks nicely, Reese will usually give it back. Reese has also started to use the word "please" when she wants something that Ava has. Ava will usually give it to her. My sweet Ava. What awesome kids we have!!!
Reese is talking up a storm! When you say "I love you" she says "Ahh tue" back. She kind of whispers it back, it's so sweet! She says "I waaaan" (I want) a hundred times a day while pointing. She asks for juice (joosh) and shoes (also joosh, which sometimes confuses mommy). She removes all of her clothes by herself on a regular basis and says "I potty??!" She throws a major fit when we try to put her diaper and clothes back on. She likes to be naked. Ava has some ABC posters in her room. Reese can tell you what most of the things are when you point to them. She asks for "Nana?" (banana) at least 3 times a day. I can't say no, and always give her one. She takes one bite and brings it back to me. I am not a huge fan of bananas, so they usually end up in the trash... She got a Dream Light for Christmas and as she lays in bed at light looking at the stars on her ceiling, she sings the song from the dream light commercial. It's so funny!!! I love her!!!!

Playing with new toys!!!

Ava's cousin Jessica gave her this AWESOME ballet mat/bar/movie for Christmas! Ava was so excited to get it all set up and try it out! I was really impressed at how well she paid attention to the lady on the DVD!! Go Ava my little Ballerina!!

Ava and Reese watching a movie on Daddy's new toy from Santa!! Such an awesome Daddy!!! The very first thing he bought with his iTunes cards was Winnie the Pooh! I love him!!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

OH my goodness!! I woke up at 5am and couldn't go back to sleep!!! Having kids is like being a little kid again! I was so excited and my mind was racing!!!! Ava and Reese both woke up at about 6:15 or so. Ava, Reese, and Daddy patiently waited in Ava's room while Mommy got the camera ready.

Here they come!!!.....

 The remote control cars were a hit!!

 Reese was a little apprehensive about the car at first, it scared her a little, which is why she is ON the couch here...

 Showing Daddy where we live. There is a globe on the table at the entry at church. We stop there every Sunday on the way in to show her, so she already knew where Washington was!!

 For some reason, Ava LOVES Yoda! Hehe, she has never even seen star wars. She saw a Yoda mug at the store once and thought he was cute. She has been talking about Yoda Yoda Yoda ever since!

 Ava helping Reese open the present she picked out for her. Animals!

 ROAR!!!

 Reese checking herself out in the mirror. New Pooh towel! As soon as we put it on her head she went straight to Mommy and Daddy's room to see cute self in the mirror!

 Kisses!

 Christmas dinner! Tamales!! YUM!!

 Raf got legos for Christmas! He is so cute!! He was just like a little kid!! This was after Ava and Reese went to bed on Christmas evening. I love him!!!