Florida Vacation

What great weather we had in FL. It was mid-80's the whole time and at night it was still pretty warm/humid. It was a nice vacation and we hope we can continue to do this every year. Hopefully Matt can take off work next year and join us (he wasn't able to come to FL this year.)
We had a great week with my dad, Barb, Shelly and baby Jack. Avree and Jack did very well on the plane ride and while we were in FL. The mornings were our time to get out and do something cause in the afternoon they kids needed to lay down for their long nap. It worked out pretty well.
Two days before Avree and I were leaving, cousin Kaiya arrived in FL. (The girls atleast got to play for a couple days.) But of course our last day in FL it poured! So we had to keep them entertained inside. I don't think they minded though. All Avree did was follow Kaiya around and copy her :-) They had so much fun playing together. Avree even started crying when she left Kaiya the morning of our flight.

Great weather, great vacation with family = Many memories!!


Ham balls :p

She LOVES Sprite!




Slurpee Run :-)




Cheetos Monster!

The girls were finally reunited. Playing on the beach.

Avree sitting on the Sheriff's ATV.

Last day on the beach

Halloween Weekend

We sure had great weather for Halloween this year. We were outside playing for most of the weekend. Just wish the weather would stay though...
Avree got to wear her costume on Thursday for her library story time. Everyone loved her costume and there were even mothers taking her picture. She was a garden gnome, but everyone was saying "what a cute elf" or "what a cute pixie." So any one of those works.. :-)



Friday night we went to a friends house and had supper and carved pumpkins. They had a cat and Avree wouldn't leave the cat alone! She loves animals..


The Finished Pumpkins...

Saturday afternoon we went to our church parking lot for "Trunk or Treat". I had never been to something like that. It was so neat. Some members of the church would decorate their trunks and pass out candy. Avree actually enjoyed doing that and walking from car to car to get candy. It was pretty funny to watch her grab the candy and put it in her bucket, then onto the next car to get more candy.

Avree looking at all the candy she has..


Avree is not scared of anything. She was putting her hands all over the "stuffed man", epecially his boots :p. The hand in the candy bowl even moved up and down, but she just kept grabbing it. I was scared she was going to pull it off or something. Then behind her there was a boy, a couple years older than Avree, who was scared to death of this thing. LOL



Saturday night Nana, Papa and Unlce TJ came to see Avree all dressed up. Papa Dave and TJ went to a couple haunted houses and then to a movie, while Avree got to spend time with Nana. (Matt and I went to a couple Halloween parties.)
Photo shoot outside on the front step




We went to a couple of the neighbors house to trick or treat, and once again she is a pro. She went to the door, knocked and knocked, and knocked and knocked... Then they handed her some candy and she puts it in the bucket and on to the next house she went :-)

The 3 of us dressed up





Sunday morning we had a great family breakfast at Cracker Barrell. Then sat outside for a bit to soak up some sun. It got to 78 on Sunday! Beautiful day!

Avree with Matt's Halloween wig on.LOL!

As you can tell we had fun playing with Matt's Halloween wig. :-)

Blast from the past! (Papa with Matt's wig on)






Nana and Papa bought Avree a Halloween cookie from the Pella bakery. It was a big witch face with lots of lime green frosting... Talk about a mess!! I think that is the only reason they bought that for her. haha


The pictures don't look that bad but trust us, it was a mess. When she really dug into it, I didn't want to go grab the camera cause I knew once I turned my back she would be gone, climbing on something..getting lime green frosting on whatever she touched :-)
Avree has enough goodies to last her for a couple months..

We had a GREAT holiday weekend. So glad Matt's parents and brother could come visit. Hope everyone else had a great weekend.

What we have been up too...

I know it has been a little while since I have been on here and actually posted pictures and updates. So here goes...
Avree is 18 months old already! (Almost 19 on Nov 4th) She is starting to talk more (still gets a little shy when you ask her to say something), and growing so fast! She is skinny and tall. Her Dr appt she was 70% for height but 5% for weight. It makes is especially hard to keep pants up since she no longer wearing diapers. Yes, you read that right.. she is fully potty trained!! No more diapers during the day (she has never had an accident either). She even has stayed dry during nap times and during the night! Such an awesome thing and still can't believe she is 18 months and potty trained!
She is still our little monkey and is finding new things to climb on. She recently discovered one of her little potty's can also be a step stool. So she is forever moving it around the kitchen to help her get things off the counter. The other day I found her on the step stool, putting her hands in the frosting container. :)




I also forgot to post a picture of Avree's "new bed". The end of July/beginning of August we put Avree's toddler rail up. I was a little nervous about her being able to get in and out of her bed by herself and whenever she wants but she has done well. She never gets out till we come and get her and has still been sleeping great. What a big girl!!

Weekend with the Grandparents!

Well, I finally got enough courage to leave my baby. It took me a year and a half to leave her for more than a couple hours. I was surprised how well I did. Of course I missed her, but we had a fun weekend. Nice not having to pick up and clean the house every hour. :-) (Our little tornado!)
It sounded like she had a great time. Getting into everything and chatting non-stop. (I don't think they knew what she was saying though)
She stayed with my dad and Barb Friday night, then Saturday she played with cousin Kaiya. Saturday afternoon my dad dropped her off at Nana and Papa's (Matt's parents). So she was on the go the whole weekend!
I am comfortable now about her leaving for a weekend (only a weekend!! No more than 2 days!!) so I have a feeling the grandparents will want to do this often :-)

Avree and Kaiya



"Great" grandpa and grandma McCulla




Just had Avree's 18 month check-up today. She is healthy and growing like a weed. She is about 70% for height but only 5% for weight! Skinny string bean! :)I have also been working on potty training her! She is about 70-80% trained. She has been doing awesome and has caught on pretty quick :-) Hopefully by Christmas she will be fully trained!
Hope everyone is enjoying the October weather. Hard to believe October is half way over!

Sorry, it's been a while since my last post...

I have kind of forgot all about my blog spot. I guess there isn't really much to post about either. We haven't been up to too much, outside of our routine... Avree is talking a lot more now. She actually tries to say words, as before she would just look at you and do a shy smile. She just turned a year and a half yesterday! Hard to believe she is that old!!

I will try and post some pictures, soon... once I get them off my camera and on the computer. (I haven't had a lot of free time since I changed her nap schedule to once a day. She takes a couple hour nap just in the afternoon. So when she is napping, I usually am trying to pick up the house, do laundry, clean or mow....The story of my life)

Hope all is well with everyone.