My best friend Sara had her first child back in November. Because I'm such a bad friend and moved 3000 miles away this weekend was the first time I met her! She is so cute and such a good baby. Our other best friend Ali drove down from Chicago so we could have a girl's night. Of course we kept the kids around as well. What a different night that was from the past. Instead of going out to dinner and drinking wine, we watched Baby Einstein and made baby food! Even though it wasn't as exciting as past "girl nights" in so many ways it was so much better. I've now realized that I don't have any pics of Sara and Tatum but I did get some cute ones of Avery "choking" Tatum!

Aunt Ali w/ her 2 "nieces".

Me and cute little Tatum! Look at those cheeks!!


Avery saying good-bye to Tatum. Sara drove down and took us to the airport.

On our first night in Indy one of my oldest friends came down for dinner. We grew up across the street from each other so we were really close friends. We got married 2 weeks apart and were in each others weddings. I'm so glad we've kept in touch over the years and that we are still willing to make the trip to see each other. We got married at the same time but, as you can see, we clearly didn't have kids at the same time! Her 2 kids, Abby and Eathan are so cute and so well behaved. As you can see Avery had a great time playing with them.

Avery loved this little tea set my mom had. Abby was so patient to play with a 2 year old.

Grandma MAG, PopPop and all the kids! What a great weekend!

This is one of the presents Marianne got Avery for her Birthday. We celebrated it while they were here.


She also got this golf set. Now she can be just like Daddy!

Max was very helpful to make sure Avery opened all her presents properly.



We tried to get some pictures of the kids after church on Sunday. They were so cute. Amazingly they sat there for quite a lot of time.

More vacation and visit pics

Avery and I on a ride at Six Flags


It took Avery a while to touch the water at the fountain but once she did she didn't want to leave it. Next time we go to Six Flags I'll bring a change of clothes.


After the beach we went to Muir Woods

Avery and Max really liked playing in the big trees!


Now that I'm using this blog as more of a journal of our life (I'm not the world's best scrapbooker!) I'm going to keep up with this blog even if my posts are way out of date!
Here are some more pictures of the visit from Ryan's family.

Busy, busy weekends!

So, the Wilson house has had some very busy weekends lately. On April 24th Ryan's mom, stepfather, sister, brother-in-law and 2 nephews came out for a visit. Marianne and Denny arrived on time and with no problems but Brooke and Michael weren't so lucky. By the time Brooke and family got to our house they really deserved a nice vacation. They got 2 toddler boys to the airport by 4:30 am only to find out that their flight had been canceled!! After 5 hours of waiting the flight was rebooked for
5:00 that night. Luckily then they were able to go home and rest but they didn't arrive to our house until after midnight!! That being said everyone was really in a good mood the next day and we got started on our adventures.
It was so cute to see Max and Avery play together. AJ is a cutie as well but being the youngest and most compliant child, he tended to get left behind in the activity of Max and Avery. As long as he had the baby gate to play with though he was perfectly happy squealing and wandering around the house. By this time next year he'll be keeping up with the big kids.
Our house was definitely jam-packed of people but everyone got along and we were so blessed with nice weather so we could spend a lot of time outside. I'm so glad that they were able to visit. Thank you so much Marianne!!
Hopefully we can do it again in a couple years.
Avery and Grandma making "castles".


AJ and PopPop

AJ and Grandma Mag

Avery loved running up to the waves and then come screaming back before they got her wet.

So cute!



When we got back to the car Max said, "I like the beach!"

The beach wore them out!

Visit to Indy

We are having a great time in Indy. Avery has so many things to do at her grandparents' houses. She is quite spoiled. Here are a few of her on a 4-wheeler and riding a horse. Ryan's dad has a rodeo arena in his yard so every week he has a few guys over to rope steer. We were there for it today so Avery was able to get on a horse. Between the dogs, horses, steer and bugs she was in paradise. She really had fun with it. She is so amazing that she just has no fear about things like that. I love that she is so adventurous and courageous.

Happy Birthday Avery!!

I can't believe my little girl is 2 today! Being her mother is so much more than I could ever have imagined. I truly thank God everyday that he has given me this joy and this responsibility. I am constantly amazed at everything she does, says, learns and shares. I just can't wait for the next one to join our family and we can see how our joy doubles and watch Avery develop into a big sister. I have has so many blessings in my life but my family of Ryan, Avery and baby girl have really been the best parts of my life.

Here are some pictures from this morning when I woke her up. I don't think she liked being disturbed or my singing. Don't worry, it wasn't long before she was smiling! I know they are having a party for her at Lani's today so I can't wait to see how that goes.

Mmmm that's good...

Just a few cute pics and sayings from Avery. I wake up every morning just wondering what she'll do today. On Thursday I made some chocolate chip cookies so I gave her a little taste of cookie dough. Off the couch she went, into the kitchen and pulled her stool over to the bowl. She picked up the spatula, licked it, looked at me and said "mmmm, that's good" Needless to say I laughed quite a bit and she licked the spatula clean!
She's also developing quite an opinion. In the car today she said "no sing mommy, no sing mommy" Now, since I wasn't singing I assumed she meant the radio so I turned it off and she was happy.

We've also really developed a bedtime routine that she loves. We've always read a book every day but now I get in bed with her and she loves it. I took some pictures because my friends think I'm crazy but it's really no different than getting into a toddler bed, we just have "bars" around us. Truly it will be easier when she goes to her "big girl" bed next month. Plus then Ryan can get in bed too as he won't even attempt the crib no matter how much she asks. (Now that would be a picture I'd like to see...)

The other is a pic of Avery relaxing watching Sesame Street. She always puts her legs up like that and I thought it was too funny.

I can't wait for tomorrow to see what's next!

Video

My funny Avery

I made the mistake of turning the water on in the tub and then letting it fill while I was in the kitchen. This is what I found when I walked back in. She was a bit confused as to what happened but sure looks cute! Needless to say if I fill and leave I close the bathroom door so she can't get in. I do know that this could be dangerous.



This is just Avery relaxing on the couch watching Sesamie Street. Just thought she was cute all curled up with Pooh.