18 MONTHS

This girl is just YUMMY!!! She is a good mix of both of her sisters.  She is pretty quite like Meg was.  Meem calls her a tele tubby because she just wanders and makes the funniest noises.  She also has the best belly!  She is not much of a performer, for sure not on command and eats pretty much anything like Meg did.  She also has a bit of Ava's fiesty side.  She does not do something if she doesn't want to.  Cleaning her nose or giving her medicine is a nightmare and she is strong.  She loves to get into the things she shouldn't like the toilet and pull the dirt out of plants.  I know this is normal but the big girls didn't do that.  She is a lover and snuggler but mostly with me.  She is the most attached and quirky child we have had.  She definitely prefers me (good and bad).  She LOVES her baby and gank and LOVES fluff.
She has a fascination with all things soft, yarn like, stringy and hairy which is not new but the storage of it is.  She stores the fluff on the top of her bink.  She pulls it off the hair of her baby, rolls it into a ball and sticks it right between her nose and lip.  It is hilarious!  She will leave it there until she eats or takes her bink out.  I will take it out as I pass her but she just replaces it.  If she passes some fluff on the floor she will pick it up and stick it in there too.  I try to leave the babies in her bed so the fluff is contained and vacuum as often as possible but it is hard to keep up on.  Especially in winter with us being so cooped up.  She is so excited when the big girls get home from school.  She just loves them.
She finally started walking on dad's birthday, november 12 and has just started to use a fork and spoon.  She says mom, dad, sissy, cheese, hi, bye, no, bank and juice.  She is a great sleeper.  One nap from about 1-3 and back down for the night about 8:30 until 7:30 am.  She rarely gets up in the night and plays in her bed in the morning till you come in to get her.  We have lucked out with this this last one so far.  I can't help but eat her up!
SLOAN AT 18 MONTHS: 28lbs 97%
Loves green beans, grapes, black beans, graham crackers, bananas, ice cream, candy and all meat.
Is not a huge fan of noodles, bread and eggs
Loves to watch Umizoomie, Bubble guppies, Mickey Mouse and George.
Favorite show is Little Mermaid and Frozen.
Crosses her legs whenever she is sitting.
Has almost grey eyes, a very funky color.
Loves to brush her teeth with everyones toothbrush.

NUTCRACKER

Meem took all of us girls to the Nutcracker with Grandma P. and Aunt Marsha and her girls.  We met at Marsha's for dinner before and then all 17 of us girls headed over.  Meg had been before but it was Ava's and Vea's first time and they did great!  We followed it up with drinks at Marsha's.  It was a such a fun night with all the girls.

BIG 10!

This sweet girl is 10.  I say often what a good girl she is but she really is!  She is a good friend, incredibly caring,  so much help and a fabulous sister!  She has a great group of girls that she plays with and her teachers just love her.  Last month her and I had "the talk" including so many more things than I knew at her age.  Since then her and I are talking about everything.  We have covered a lot of topics very quick.  She is experiencing so many new things and topics at school that have me definitely worried but I am feeling so thankful she is coming to me so we can discuss it.  I think we are on the right track with her.  Let's hope for the same with Ava!
This was Meg's "off" year for her birthday so I let her decide what she wanted to do with just a few friends and not have such a big production.  She has been asking to have a sleepover for EVER!  I am normally not a big fan of sleepovers but I caved and she had 3 girls over and 2 of them slept over. We also ended up with 2 friends for Ava.  They were much more work than the party was.  So we had a great night with pizza, cupcakes, make overs and made a ton of crazy loom bracelets.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGGY!
MEG AT 10:
Is dancing and doing gymnastics both twice a week.
Her favorite color is purple and blue.
Her besties are Emma, Ashley and Sydnee.
She loves to read and is a great speller.
Loves to do any type of craft.
Loves American Girl.
Loves to eat tostadas, fish tacos, Chinese food, f'reals(milk shake)
Loves to watch Good Luck Charlie, Jessie, Austin and Ally and Shake it up.
Loves One Direction.

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

This year we did Thanksgiving over at Meem's with the family and grandma and grandpa P.  Christopher also came!  Yummy food and drinks followed by cards which we missed because I had to leave a bit early in order to catch up with the girls for some black friday shopping.  My first time pulling a full all nighter.  It was awesome!  

TONSILS

So this year we finally made it happen and had Ava's tonsils taken out.  She was so excited and she talked about it the entire month before.  Her teacher heard about it daily as well as anyone that would listen.  She was so ready the morning of the surgery.  Her doctor and nurses just ate her up.  She seems to have that effect on people, such a little lover.  The surgery went perfectly.  She was such a trooper and only cried a little after she came to but once her pain meds kicked in she was good to go.
Once we got home I thought she would sleep all day or maybe at least for a couple of hours.  Nope!!  Not for a second.  I told her at least 10 times to quit running and to stay on the couch.  It was like she didn't just have surgery.  That is how the next 3 days went.  On the night of day 4 and 5 she woke up about 4 crying so I would give her so medicine, put her back to bed and that's all it took.  The hardest thing about the whole week was finding something for her to eat especially since she doesn't love a lot of things.  She still sounds a little nasally but her snoring is soooo much better.

THE COLOR RUN-SLC

I was geared up to do The Color Run in Salt Lake and take my girls.  Unfortunately Lance had to work the race so as usual its just the "sister wives" and all the kiddos.  We definitely needed to go in full gear and I was excited to see what really happens since I am always in the store and have not seen any of the action.  It was a very early morning and everyone did pretty well.  We let the kids ride scooters and had 4 crashes out of the 8 kids with only 1 lost Alex!   Pretty good I'd say!  I think the kids really liked it but they were sad they didn't get to go up on stage. They all loved the mess and doing snow angels in the color zones.  For us it was a lot of fun but also a lot of work to make sure all the kids were roped in.  It was like herding cattle mostly.  Next year I think we may have to do a just adults and some of the big big kids!
What I loved most about this was that my clan was there.  I have such an amazing family and friends and I love that they came to support Lance and I.  I really have a team of backup at all times and I just Love them!

BACK TO SCHOOL!

I am normally not so thrilled to send the girls back to school.  I usually love the lack of schedule, hanging at the pool and just doing nothing.  In fact we didn't do any dance, gymnastics or soccer this summer just to give us all a break but I think that backfired on me.  I guess I didn't think about my 1 year old that is taking 2 naps. Which means the majority of the time I am saying, "Shhhh!!!!! Your sister is sleeping!" or "if you wake your sister up you're gonna watch her!"  It made it hard to go too many places.  She is my first baby to not sleep in the car, at the pool or on the go.  She really only sleeps in her bed.  So needless to say I think we were all ready for school to start.
Lance and I were gone the whole last week of summer so I had to get them all ready before I left.  So school clothes, supplies and everything else.  I wish my kids had to wear uniforms.  It really is silly that all schools do not enforce that.  It would make it easier on all of us!  Their teacher assignments came out a couple weeks before school started.   Meg got into a new teacher that seems to be great with her 2 best friends.  Some how none of the other girls in their group got in there which is great for the girl drama factor.  Ava got a great teacher as well and is sitting next to Miles whom is so super darling!  The only drawback is that her 2 friends Halle and Eva are in another class.  Overall everyone is loving school so far!

1 YEAR OLD!

Somehow this little girl is 1!  I cannot believe how fast it has gone and how quickly she is changing.  Her personality is all over the place.  She is so playful and very easy going most of the time but then she is very busy with a little bit of naughty in there.  She is after certain things and will let you know if your not doing it right.  She likes to get into everything.  She has fallen down the stairs at least 3 times, slammed lots of fingers in drawers, keeps getting limbs caught in her crib slats (which breaks my heart) and loves anything that belongs to her sisters.  She LOVES her sisters and is so excited when they get home.  They are the same with her and are such great big sisters!!!
Something that totally makes me smile and is so funny is her love of fluff and fringe. She is definitely a texture girl. If you have shorts with some fringe hanging off, maybe some rug fringe, a nub off a blanket or even some hair on the floor she will stick it in her hand and the thumb goes right into her mouth.  It is hilarious until I am vacuuming and washing floors daily!  Hopefully she will walk soon and quit eating everything off the floor.  I think it is a comfort thing for her.  The good thing is that her thumb is only in her mouth in that situation otherwise it's the bink, she finally loves her bink.
She is now watching shows and loves Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse, Elmo and Bubble Guppies. All bottles are gone and she is eating everything but eggs.  She out eats the big girls quite often!  She loves most fruit, veggies, beans and anything sweet.  She usually drinks milk or water and not a big fan of juice but loves green smoothies in the morning.  I have moved her to one nap this past week.  She has lunch about 11:30 and lays down about noon.  It was to hard with all the carpool at night for two naps.  She is finally easier to handle in the car now that she will watch a show.  She loves the tub and going outside. She is a really a good baby and has the best little scrunchie smile to go with her scrunchie bum!!

2 IN ONE DAY!

Meg lost her first tooth very young and is still loosing them right and left. I'm sure she should be out by now.  While Ava has been waiting for the day to finally wiggle that first tooth.  This morning she woke up and was so excited her first one was loose.  By breakfast she was complaining she couldn't eat and how badly it hurt.  After she wouldn't quit whining I said I would take it out.  With her hesitation it took some bribing on my part but a  few moments later it was out.  She was thrilled!
By lunch the one next to it was loose.  I swear they weren't loose the night before.  So crazy!  At dinner we went through the same routine as breakfast. Whine, whine cry and then whine a bit more.   It is the end of summer and I am ready to get these girls back in school!  I will do pretty much anything for some quiet time.  So I took that one out too!  They were both barely hanging on.  So she lost two teeth on the day of loosing her first tooth.  She was also very thrilled that the tooth fairy thought two teeth in one day deserved a $20.00 dollar bill.  Meg didn't think it was fair!

THE COLOR RUN-COLUMBUS

So so excited for my second race and to meet a whole new group of peeps!  This race Sean was the Race Director so I got to see Lance just a little bit more.  This one also was my first indoor packet pickup and store.  I must say I prefer outside, I think it just has a different vibe to it.  I really enjoyed this race because I felt like I got to know some of the people I had met before more and there was also some fabulous new people!  I  learned a bunch more on how to run the store and be the lead.  I would really like to do a big chunk of Lance's runs. I also didn't mind eating ice cream every night!  Columbus was a cool city and I wish we had more time to explore especially to see the Victoria's which is suppose to be the biggest one anywhere. Next year for sure!

THE COLOR RUN-AMARILLO

Lance got a new job in March as a Race Director at The Color Run.  When he initially told me about it I was super hesitant.  I had never even heard about something like that but he was ready for a change so we jumped in.  With Cornerstone he traveled a lot but when he was in town it was like he still was out of town.  I rarely saw him.  I knew he would still be traveling with Color Run but thought he would be home more and I would talk to him more.  Well kind of. He is traveling on average twice a month from Tuesday or Wednesday until Sunday.  The nice thing is when he is in town he is usually home by 5:30 and has weekends off so it feel like he is here a lot more.  As for when he is on the road I talk to him less.  The first couple runs I was very irritated that I was never hearing from him. How could he not have time when I see him on Facebook it looks like he is just playing!  Well it took my first time to go with him to understand.
This job has been amazing and had so many unexpected surprises.  One of them being me able to go with him and work the store.  I was very nervous but it is so up my ally.  We are working insane hours, sleeping very little, starving and having a blast.  You are with people 24 hours a day.  There is not a lot of time to talk on the phone or really even pee.  Basically I am just selling Color Run merchandise, moving lots of boxes with fabulous music pumping in the background.  I love the manual labor part of it all as well.  Its a fabulous workout plus were just dirty, sweaty and no getting relay!  Perfect!
The first day I was in Amarillo I was a little unsure what I was going to think about this but it was just fabulous.  The real Housewives of Amarillo as Lance called them were amazing.  We bonded really quickly and it was a great first race for me to go on.  They also throw a great party! I also met a ton of Lances co-workers and I just love them too! Something that I was not really expecting was the extra bonding in Lance and I.  I think we really have a great marriage but there hasn't been a lot of time for just he and I.  I also did not expect we would like working together like we do.  I spend very little time with him on the runs.  He is busy with his thing and me with the store.  It was fun and a bit sexy to watch him from a far and think  how awesome that he is in charge of putting together a race from start to finish of 15000 people and doing a fabulous job.  To have some alone time to only worry about me, to worry about us.  I think it has just pulled us a little closer together.  I really want to do quite a few more runs but babysitters are a little hard so we will see. I will need to figure it out because I am already jealous when I don't get to go!  I think we are both really excited about what is to come.

LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!

May is always so crazy and I plan for mostly kid stuff with the last weeks of school and the dance concert taking up most of my time but I have to admit I love the chaos!  This last 2 weeks we had 5 dress rehearsals,  5 performances, school dance festival, field day, Ava's play and the 3K run. WOOW!
The girls are always so excited for the dance festival.  It is mostly what I remember it being like when I did it as a kid.  Funky costumes, funky songs and funny to watch.  We made it out of there just in time before the rain storm hit.
Ava's play was for the kindergartners and her teacher Mrs.Graham made sure that Ava could be in it.  Meg had to miss it when she was in her class because of dance so Mrs. Graham moved it around to fit our schedule which is fabulous.  I love to watch Ava because she is such a ham and loves the spotlight.  She was so happy that the whole family came out to see her! She did a great job!
This is the first year we have done the 3K run with the school.  It was really hot but really fun.  I went with Ava and Sloan while Meg went with her friends.  Afterwards they had chocolate milk and snacks followed with a DJ and giveaways.  We have a great school!!

JIVE 2013

It's that time again, dance concert week!   Right in the middle of of the chaos of the last weeks of school but we got it done! This year we took on 5 dress rehearsals and 5 shows.  Meg was in 3 dances and Ava in 1.  Of coarse Ava had to get the cold she always does and of course I had to give her some meds and so for sure she barely made it through Friday.  She came home after the first show on Saturday for a power nap and barely made it for the last 2 shows.  Over all they were fabulous and I just love to see them both on stage.

9 MONTHS!!!

This squish of a girl is already 9 months and we are all eating up every single rolling inch of her.  She is really happy most of the time.  Her personality is a lot like Meg as a baby, quite and content most of the time.  She is a great sleeper but requires the humidifier on and her gank, which is a blanket that Grandma P made for Meg.  It has made it through both girls before her and they didn't love it but for some reason it's her fav.  She loves the lace on it and is slowly unraveling it. She is usually ready for bed by 8 at the latest and up about 7:30.  She is babbling quite a bit and saying mamamam and ada but I'm sure they are not on purpose. 

She is eating some baby food, liking veggies more than fruits. Cheerios, puffs, and anything soft we are trying on her.  She also loves to naw on carrots and you know she loves ice cream already! She had a little bit of spaghetti last night and liked it OK   She is having 4 bottles a day still of 7-8 oz and I am counting the days till we can get rid of formula.  She is holing her own bottle, from the bottom with one hand, which is so nice she can do this.    

She is not crawling yet but very close.  I am not pushing either.   I really am not ready for her to crawl!  She is our last and I want her to stay little and immobile as long as possible.  She is still sucking her thumb which is killing me but I am hoping that she will switch over to the bink full time soon since she really likes that too.  She loves to get something stringy in her hands like the rug fringe HAHA, hair, grass etc  and wrap it around her pinky and plop that thumb in.  AHHHH!  It's super funny and cute to see her snug with the rug but really???  

She loves going outside and still loves her johnny jumper probably more than anything.  She is getting a bit of an attitude which is funny.  She is learning how to smack your hand out of the way if she doesn't like what you are doing and is also getting  tough to change her diaper or clothes. She is throwing herself back in a fit just a little bit and arching her back when she'd mad.  We will see what happens from here    Both the girls are still amazing helpers and Meg has even started babysitting here and there!  Woo Hoo!!  I am not sure how we lucked out with Sloany being such a good baby but we will take it!!

STATS AT 10 1/2 MONTHS:

Weight-24lbs(98%)

Length-30 inches(93%)

Head-18 inches(96%)

A BLUE BUNNY OR BLUE BULLET???

Ava ended her first season of soccer with a bang, scoring a large amount of goals the last 4 games or so.  I love that she gets in there and works her little butt off.  She doesn't whine or pout, she doesn't care if they win or loose and gets right back up when she falls.  I love that she gives this great big smile right after every goal to make sure you were watching.  She freaks me out often with her lack of fear in everything but I also love that she is up for anything.  She is a tough little player and really makes me so proud. This may be her thing although when I asked if she wants to do soccer again or gymnastics in fall, she voted gymnastics.  We will see...

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY AVA!

Ava is the girl that watches a show once and can recite back the whole thing including all the hidden humor that I hope she is not taking in.  She is the girl that has absolutely no fear and that usually works out to be a good thing for her and a bad thing for me.  She is pretty much great at every thing she does and is up for anything.  She is the boy that we will never have and prefers to have the least amount of clothes on as possible (so her belly can breath)!  She wants to love and snuggle anyone, anywhere and all the time.  She has no stranger danger and can make friends anywhere she goes.  She is so friendly, busy and happy most of the time. I worry sending her to new friends houses just in case of what she might say or do.  She has no filter and I continue to tell Lance to watch what he says around her because she sucks it all in.  She is for sure my challenge sometimes but it's hard to stay mad at her for very long.  She provides much of the entertainment here and is a sucker for the spot light.  I love what a free spirit and lover she is. She is a fabulous big sister and loves to maul Sloany to death.  She won't let us leave the room for even a minute if Sloan is in there.  She doesn't want her to be left by herself.  She still loves the boys and has 2 men in her life.  Kalvin as we know and now Miles, the new boy in her class.  Her teacher just adores her and she is a great student.
She is into Lalaloopsy, Monster High, dress up and loves to play outside.  She still would love to eat waffles, pancakes, cereal and eggos most of the time and polish it off with a chocolate milk.  She is venturing out on her eating choices slowly but surly. She keeps me on my toes and we just love this crazy girl!
She choose Classic Skating for her party and got to take her 5 friends and Meggy.  They all do their own thing pretty much so it makes it super easy for me.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA!

CALI EASTER/SPRING BREAK

We decided very last minute to head to Jenn and Kevy's for spring break and Easter.  It was a 9 day break from school so it was a perfect time to go.  Lance was also able to drive down with us and stay a few days before he had to fly into Texas.
I was very hesitant to drive because the car is not Sloan's favorite place to be.  I thought turning her around in her car seat would help but I was so wrong.  Out of the 5 hours to Vegas she cried for a good 2 of it.  Lance really had no idea how bad she doesn't like the car until this trip.  After a few almost freak outs we turned the shows off and opened the sunroof for a super loud white noise and she was out.  We stayed in Vegas that night at Ade's.  We were able to hang with them for a few hours and have breakfast before we headed to Huntington.  Everyone was great in the car this time.  We learned this trip that it's the night time car ride that kills Sloan.  She is great in the day.
We spent the next week playing at the park and the beach, shopping and just doing nothing.  The girls loved having their own loft to sleep and play in.  We got to stay at their new house which is perfect.  Sloany loved Kevy and Jack!  Jenn and I got in a few good workouts and a beach run.  We had yummy tacos and lots treats.  It was just fabulous.  We all absolutely love being there and its awful to come home.  Lance left Wednesday and I stayed till Saturday and drove into St. George to stay with Beck and Ryan.  It was a good thing that we only went half way because it was a nightmare.  Sloan cried from Baker until St. George and then she was fabulous the second she got out.  The big girls were so great and so helpful or we never would have made it.  We can't wait to go back!

STORYTELLING FESTIVAL

On Friday I received a message from Meg that she had taken second place in the 3rd grade for the Storytelling festival. We were thrilled!  She told the Wide Mouth Frog but in farm instead of zoo becaseu she could think of more animals.   It is a story that the meem has been telling the girls for a long time.  Then as I went to pick up Ava from school her teacher came up to me and asked if I had been working on a story with Ava for the festival, which I hadn't.   I thought I was in trouble and asked why.  She told me Ava told a story and she thought Ava had won against the entire Kindergarten.  I about died and asked what story she told?  The Wide Mouth Frog she said.  HAHA Awesome!  I had no idea she was doing that.  Ava told me she wanted to go last so she could be the "Grand Finale!"  Well today she went up against Kindergarten through 3rd grade.  She didn't win, the 3rd grader did but she did an amazing job!  So proud of you to get up in front of so many people and tell it so well!

SLOANY IS 6 MONTHS!

All of the sudden Sloan is has gotten so big!  She is still such a great baby and so smiley!  She loves to see what is going on around her and loves to watch the girls!  She is sitting up on her own and only topples over every now and then.  She finally can get a hold of her feet, which I love.  Now if she could only get them into her mouth I'd be thrilled!  She is grabbing for everything and it's even better if it doesn't belong to her.  She is not even close to getting on hands and knees to crawl.  She does not love her belly so I am working to put her on that as much as possible.  She has found her tongue and its hanging out most of the time.  I though she may be getting her top teeth but nothing peaking through yet.  Her slobber tells me soon.  So the biggest struggle with little girl is her thumb.  As you lay her in bed she rolls to one side and grabs the blanket and plops that thumb right in the mouth.  I usually replace it with the bink but she tries very hard to win.  We are trying gloves to see if that helps too.  I will do anything to make this not happen!  I am also changing her clothes all the time from blow outs.  Her bum was not designed for poop.  I never did this with the big girls!  It makes me nuts! 

STATS: 27 inches( 89%) 21 lbs(98%) head 17(98%)

She is still on mostly the same schedule.  First bottle about 8 and then about every 3-4 hours depending on what is going on.  She has last bottle about 8-8:30. She is eating 6 oz.  She is eating rice cereal here and there but not her fav.  I also just made a ton of home made baby food that I am so excited to try it on her.  She is sick right now for the first time and she is so congested and has so much mucus that she doesn't want to eat anything!  Good thing she has reserve!  She is also sleeping great! She starts to stir about 7ish but will hang out and talk for a bit before she actually is ready to get up.  That's good for my need to sleep in occasionally!  I am so thankful for her easy going, happy personality!  Great way to finish!

VALENTINES DAY!

Valentines Day this year was anything but over the top!  I just could not get on top of it and it came so stinkin fast.  Not that I usually do something major but I would really like to step it up next year for this holiday!  Luckily the meem made cookies for the girls but I ate most of them! SHOOT!

We had to make Meg's valentine box for the first time this year.  This was on Lances to do list but with him incognito most of the time it fell back to me.  We searched Pinterest and she picked the iPod   The problem with having all girls is that the pink construction paper always goes first.  So with no pink paper we did the next best thing, cut up a Victoria's box.  After 3 hours we finished, tinfoil sides, ear buds and a play list!

I helped in Ava's class for the first time.  It's been a bit harder to do so with a baby.  It was so fun to put faces with names and to see all their little personalities.  Also to find out who I don't want her to play with.  Sad but true!  I absolutely LOVE Ava's teacher.  I love that she has all girls and can relate to all the girl drama.  I love that she is firm, on top of it but loving at the same time.  She was Meg's teacher as well and I hope she will still be there for Sloan. My hell!  She rearranged the Kindergarten program around Ava's dance concert.  She had remembered that it was a conflict with Meg and she wanted to make sure Ava would be available. Yes Ava has plenty of acting skills to give but that is still so crazy and unbelievably nice.  Meg is still talking about missing the Kindergarten program.

I got to talk to her a little more this time and she said something that I thought was great and something I had not really thought about before.  As we were talking about Ava and some of the other kids she told me that my girls are always so happy and that is rare.  That some of these kids can be so moody and unpredictable and she always knows there will be a smile on Ava's face and that Meg was the same way.  I was very flattered and that is usually pretty true. I hope that means I'm doing something right as a mom?  It was nice to hear that from her teacher because I get a bit nervous sending Ava anywhere.  You never know quite what will come out of her mouth.  They really are such good girls and I am so proud of them!