Grandma K's Birthday

This has been a busy week and it is only Tuesday!  Today was grandma K's birthday.  She took the day off so we could spend some time together.  Breakfast, gifts, birthday pie and some play time at grandma's house was a perfect way to spend a cold, windy, rainy day!  Unfortunately Jaden still isn't feeling very good so he was sleeping during a lot of the day.  I made sure that grandma knew that Jaden helped with all her presents though!  Happy Birthday grandma K!

Family from Florida!

This week aunt Kimmie and cousin Tyler are in town visiting!  The other night we were finally healthy enough to visit with them!  It is so fun to play with Tyler since we are only a few months apart.  He shows me all sorts of "boy" toys and I have to explain how hair clips are used in a doll's hair.  Mommy thinks it is very funny to watch!  Jaden tries to play with us too but we often get frustrated since he doesn't always "get" our games!  Jaden loved playing with Tyler's transformers and Spiderman toys!  It is always nice to catch up and spend time with family!

Weekend Rest and Parachute Fun

This weekend we had lots of rest time to try to get healthy but we also had a little family time playing with our new parachute that nae nae gave us for Easter!  We think it is really neat and I showed mommy and daddy all sorts of neat tricks that I have learned in daycare when we play with one there!

Jaden resting at Applebees when daddy took him for lunch while mommy and I rested
 



Remembering Emery; 4th Heavenly Birthday

Each year on April 28th, we send balloons up to Heaven for Emery.  Emery and I would have been 13 days apart and best of friends just like mommy and auntie Nicole.  4 years later, we still think of Emery often.  We know that she is up in Heaven playing with family and pets but we still miss her!
Thinking of Emery and her family on this day of remembrance!

Each night before bed, we always say our special prayer and it reminds us of Emery.  Jaden and I even know it by heart now.  Emery is one of the angels watching over us as it states in the prayer.

Matthew Mark Luke and John

Bless this bed that I lay on

4 corners to the bed

4 angels around my head

1 to watch and 1 to pray

2 to guide me through the day



Sickness Found our House

We made it most of winter without being sick much, the first year since I was born.  This was the case until now.  Over the weekend, daddy and I got real down and out.  Jaden is now starting with the cough too.  Daddy doesn't get like this often but when he went to the doctor, his temperature was almost 102!  This is all very bad timing since it is so important that mommy doesn't get sick so we are all trying to get healthy quickly.

Since it was a rainy, cold day anyway, we spent the day inside and mostly laying around.  We did make a couple puppets that the Easter bunny brought us and painted a couple sun catchers.

While I was sleeping, mommy and Jaden built a fort and added a bunch of balls under it.  Jaden had a blast knocking them around and mommy liked that the mess was contained! 

Happy Easter!!

Wow, we can't believe that mommy made it through the weekend without Avery arriving!  Avery is a little prankster and certainly loves to keep us guessing!

We had a busy weekend celebrating Easter with all of our family.  On Friday, grandpa Vince and grandma Sue came over to visit.  On Saturday, we visited with grandpa and grandma Christie, aunt Ashley and Mr. Dave.  Today, we went to visit with nae nae, grandma k and papa Bob.  We really wanted to make it to church but between me and daddy not feeling well and mommy not feeling the greatest, we decided that we should get as much rest as possible at home.

The Easter bunny was very good to us!  We found our Easter baskets with some help from mommy and daddy.  We thought it was so funny that the Easter bunny covered Jaden's basket with one of my doll blankets!  We got so many little things in our baskets but Jaden said that his favorite was candy and my favorite is the finger puppets.  Koda seems to love the bouncy balls that we got so he keeps stealing them to play with!

Jaden was in his glory with a new Wiggles DVD!

 

We got tattoos!

                        

 

Jaden is quite the comedian lately.  He is such a funny, goofy little boy that makes all of us laugh all the time!  Mommy says that he has really grown up in the last couple weeks and we are all loving it!

 

Helping to dye some Easter eggs with nae nae! 

Our new fort sticks!  We love building forts so these will be a lot of fun!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful, blessed Easter with friends and family!

What is in a Name: Avery Charlotte Christie

In our family, a name is something so special and something that we cherish.  There is always a meaning and reason why someone has the name that they do.

Now that we are getting very close to welcoming our 3rd child to our family, we wanted to take a moment to explain her very special name.

We have liked the name Avery since we were thinking of names for Jaden and before we knew Jaden was a boy.  There is a street that we pass each day that has the name Avery and each time we always said, "that's such a pretty name."  We didn't think we would ever have the opportunity to name another child so it was something that we put in the back of our minds but never really forgot.  Once we knew that we were having a girl, this was the first name that came to mind.  We also liked the idea that both our girls would start with the letter A.  We thought about other names but nothing "clicked" enough for us to really want to use it.  Avery was meant to be.

 

We actually knew the middle name before we confirmed the first name.  We thought about using Charlotte as the first name but couldn't fully agree on that but we did know that part of the baby's name would be Charlotte right from the moment we found out that we were expecting.  Why you ask?  Well, there is good reason.  As some may know, we were presented with a life altering decision about a year ago.  There was a fantastic job opportunity in Charlotte, NC.  After much debate, stress and even a trip down there to look at real estate, a final decision was made last August to remain here in Buffalo. With this decision we also decided that it would be best to keep our family at 4 rather than expand with any more little ones.  The joke was on us since this little baby is a direct result of this decision back in August.

I firmly believe that things always happen for reasons and although turning down this opportunity was the most difficult life decision to this point, it produced a new beginning and a new chapter in our lives that we didn't expect but gladly welcomed. 

Our baby girl will be proudly named Avery Charlotte Christie.  This little girl already loves to keep us guessing and to keep us on our toes.  She is full of surprises and we are grateful to have this opportunity to hold and love this little miracle.  Our greatest joys in life are our kids so we are blessed to have this next chapter in our lives and we look forward to welcoming Avery to our family.

Easter Tradition

It has become an Easter tradition to visit the Botanical Gardens on Good Friday each year.  This year grandma and nae nae took us since mommy wasn't feeling so good. 

We love to see the animals and pretty flowers and do some of the crafts.  We made little flowers to plant outside this year!  The Easter bunny is also there but we steer clear of him!  Maybe next year!

Happy 4th Birthday Lexi!!!!

We weren't sure if we would get to celebrate my big day the way we wanted but baby Avery cooperated and mommy was able to get out with us!  Daddy took off work, nae nae took Jaden for his own special day and I was able to have time with just mommy and daddy!  That was the best part!

We started off the day by opening my last present from mommy and daddy.

 Then we were off to Build a Bear.  As soon as I saw the big Hello Kitty, I knew I wanted to stuff her!  We added a birthday song, a special heart and a cotton candy smell.  I filled it with love and stuffing, gave her a bath and picked out clothes.  I certainly love my colors!  Meet my new kitty, Lara! 

 

Next we were off to get my ears pierced.  I have been asking for over a year to get my ears pierced but mommy and daddy kept saying, "not yet".  They finally thought it would be a good time so we picked out purple flower earrings.  I cried a bit after the holes were done but that only lasted a few seconds.  I did awesome and love my earrings!

Our next stop was to grab lunch.  My favorite meal is chicken wings so that is where we went! Chicken wings, fries and pop...not healthy but that is what I wanted so that is what we had on my special day!

 Our last stop was to pick up Jaden from his special day and go for cupcakes!  We found a little place by our house and the cupcakes were very tasty! 

I took my new kitty every place today and haven't put her down yet!  What a fun day with so many different memories!  This was certainly a special 4th Birthday!