Our Latest Update

Moving day is almost here! We have a huge Penske truck in our front yard that's about half way full. We're doing the rest tomorrow and plan on leaving for Illinois on Saturday. That's if everything goes well with Patrick. He has an appointment in the morning to find out his disability rating. They called today to let him know the board came to a decision. Go thing we haven't left already. He would have had to fly back to meet with the board. Everyone cross your fingers and hope that Patrick is very disabled! :-)

Austin and Alexis had their last day of school today. They came home with "awards" from their teachers. Austin was Best Reader and Alexis was Most Creative. :-) Not suprising. They also had fantastic report cards. So happy with the way this school year went for both of the kids. Hope PORTA is as good to us next year like Groveton has been this year.

As of right now, we're scheduled to receive the keys to our house on the 30th. We're so excited! Everyone is welcome to come visit.

Avery Walking

Yes, I realize the video is sideways. Sorry!

Avery has been walking like crazy lately. He's finally gotten the hang of it. He's also been climbing a lot which means he's into everything. He's figured out that he can use his Cars ride on toy to climb onto furniture and he can now pull out the kitchen chairs so he can climb onto the table. So busy! You can't take your eyes off him for a minute.

Playing With Chalk

Avery decided to "play" with the sidewalk chalk the other day. What a mess! Chalk dust was all over the floor then he crawled across it and tracked it through the rest of the house. Ugh!

Walking

Avery is finally getting the hang of walking.  We happened to catch him in the act today and decided to encourage him a little so we could get it on video.  He's becoming more and more brave and venturing out on his own without our encouraging him.  He'll let go of the couch, for example, and walk over to get a toy in the middle of the room.  He should be walking pretty good by the time we come to Illinois to visit next month.

Standing Up

Avery's learned how to stand up. This video is from a week ago so he looks a little wobbly but he's mastered it now.

Finally

Avery has finally taken his first steps! Tonight, after supper, he stood up in the middle of the room and took about 5 steps towards Mommy. He's been standing up on his own for about a week now. Its funny to watch him. He starts in a squat and then slowly stands up and can stand for about half a minute or so before he sits back down or falls. I guess that's his stepping stone towards walking. Hopefully he'll get the hang of walking and be on the go soon. He's also saying a new word, Austin. Well, actually its Autin. No S. It's become his new favorite thing to say. Pretty cute!

Who Let The Dogs Out

Nana gave Avery a card for his birthday that sings "Who Let The Dogs Out" when its opened. He loves it! Its been his favorite birthday present, by far. Everyone could have saved their money and just gave him singing cards. Hahaha!

Also in this video, you get to see Avery through a little fit. Its his newest "trick." When he doesn't get his way, he lays down on the floor and cries. So pitiful!

Alexis' Bugz Play

On Thursday, all the kindergarden classes at Groveton put on a play called Bugz. Alexis was a ladybug. She shared a line with her friend Alexandra and even got to do a little dance with 3 other "ladybugs" called Be A Lady. So perfect for Alexis!

This first video is the song Be A Lady.


Avery loved the music. He was a dancing fool!

Alexis' Bugz play

This video is her line she shared with Alexandra. They say "Oh, dear! We have a problem here. The stinkbug came as well. He'll ruin all this wonderful food with his horrendous smell."

Avery's 1st Birthday

Avery 1st birthday is today! Its hard to believe its been a year already. Where did the time go?

He had a great today. Grandma Marian came to visit for his birthday. She took us out for a birthday breakfast at IHOP. Avery loved to share our blueberry pancakes and omelets. We came home and he took a long nap. After nap time, Austin and Alexis came home from school and he got to open his presents. After the first few were opened, he decided he wanted to play and not finish unwrapping. We ended up opening the rest for him. Then we had dinner and cake afterwords. He loved the cake! And made a large mess. It was pretty cute though.

Alexis dancing and singing

Alexis decided to put on a show for me the other day. It started to get very entertaining so I picked up the camera to record it. She's full of it! And yes that's her swimsuit she's wearing. The straps keep falling off. What a silly girl!

Busy Busy!

We've been pretty busy this week. On Tuesday, I had my wisdom teeth removed. Patrick took yesterday and today off to help with the kids so I could rest. Today, I'm still sore and little swollen but not feeling too bad. Thank goodness for Vicodin.

Patrick is going Thursday for a sleep deprived test. That means he has to stay up all night tonight without the help of caffeine or sugar. Good luck with that but I'm going to bed. Then next week, he's going back to do a week long sleep test. They'll monitor him all day and night to see how he's sleeping and how his vitals differ from when he's awake. We're hoping for some big answers from this test, something to let us know why he doesn't sleep well.

Austin and Alexis got their report cards Tuesday. They both did pretty good. Alexis is starting to read and seems to be coming along pretty well with that. Austin has signed up to be part of the chess club at school. He hasn't found out if he's been accepted yet. They only take 13 kids so we're crossing our fingers and hoping he's one of them. Alexis' class has started practicing for a play they're putting on in a couple months. Its called Bugz and Alexis is going to be a ladybug. We have to come up with a costume and everything. So exciting!

Avery is busy, busy! We've had to purchase 2 gates to keep him in the living room. If we forget to put the gates up, he's into the kitchen or climbing up stairs. He also likes to empty the movies out of the movie cabinet. Unfortunately, there's not a way to lock the cabinet so we're constantly picking up movies. Also, he's started walking around furniture and will walk across the room if you hold his hands. I think his first steps are coming soon.

Austin and Avery

Avery loves to play with his big brother. Austin is his favorite!

Avery's Army crawl

This is a video from a few weeks ago. This is how Avery was crawling at the time. He has now started crawling on his hands and knees and he's as fast as lighting. He can get across the living in about 3 seconds. Needless to say, everything has to be clean and picked up all the time or Avery will get into it. Alexis isn't too fond of this because she wants to be able to play with her toys in the living but he'll get them. He's very fond of her Baby Alive doll. He thinks its pretty funny.