Daddy's Girl...Through and Through

Kev's family may recognize this pose from his childhood days. It was only a matter of time that Avery figured out how to climb up the doorway. She had mastered climbing up one side and discovered that if she straddled the doorway (thank you gymnastics!?!) she could easily crawl up. She is Daddy's girl, through and through! Luckily, she is still a little cautious (and I emphasize little) and won't crawl up to the top without a spotter. I guess I don't care if she is a little adventurous, as long as she keeps her smarts with her and realizes she does, in fact, have limits. When that goes...we'll see you in the ER!!

Fall Nights

Every night after dinner this week Kev says, "We better go outside and play. It could be the last night before it gets cold." Who knows how long it will last, but it's been a fun after dinner treat this week!

Haley's Monthly Birthday

What a cute little one-eyed monster we have! Haley is 16 months old now!! She is such a happy little girl! Haley is not as vocal as Avery was/is. She says very few words. For awhile, all she would say was Dada. Then she added Ta dah! and ah oh. Mama was not even on the radar for a long time. Her newest is "Cheese!!" every time I get the camera. I had to get it on video. You can imagine my joy when she wouldn't say Daddy, only Mommy! (Click on the video and you'll see, it's only 16 sec) We don't know what we'd do without this little girl in our family. She has such empathy, every time she hears a cry, from a baby, kid or adult, she runs right over with a hug, kiss or a pat on the back. She loves to put on everyone's shoe, only one, and prance around the house like a big girl. She really wants to be big and imitates Avery in everything she does. Haley did not start out as a cuddly baby, but she now loves to cuddle and always has a hug and a kiss for all! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful, healthy, caring, beautiful girl in our house!

Our House!

I realized that I never showed pictures of our finished house. Mainly because I didn't take pictures of our finished house. So, here they are!!! Kev did such a wonderful job painting our house! I'm so glad I have such a great husband that would sacrifice his free time into making our house look beautiful! (Don't worry, though. He didn't enjoy it enough to quit the Air Force and make a living out of it!)

Our Little Hair-Stylist

Avery has been wanting to put bows in her hair lately, and this is the look we get every time! She must really like it. Well, while I was getting myself ready, I look out and Haley is sitting as still as can be, as Avery is putting clips and barrettes in her hair. This is the finished look! They both look fabulous, don't you agree?


Avery asked, "Doesn't this look beautiful?"-meaning the pose

Haley, unfortunately, did not want to keep them in for very long. I was just impressed she sat there long enough to let Avery get all of them in.

Cartwheels

Avery was doing one-handed cartwheels and was getting really good at them...until I got the camera. Then they started out one-handed and ended up two-handed. But thought it was worth a couple of seconds to look at!

One More Day!!!

Tomorrow night, Kev and I can resume our Thursday night date night. We put the girls to bed, either pop some popcorn or get a bowl of ice cream, and head downstairs to watch The Office! Oh, we are so excited for this season! The reruns on Tuesday and Thursday nights have been holding us over, but tomorrow's episode looks hilarious! It's almost more exciting than a Cowboys game! (OK- Maybe not!) I'm so excited to have my date night back...FINALLY!!!

Avery's Monthly BDay

My little girl is growing up faster than I would like. She is so full of life and such a joy in our house (most of the time!) She loves her gymnastics so much and for Halloween wants to be an Olympic gymnast. She practices every day and I am secretly hoping she starts to not like it before she gets to the level where they do things that would give me a heart attack! She loves to learn! We opted to not put her in a preschool and we are continuing to do preschool at home. My plan was to have school three days a week during Haley's nap for about an hour and a half. Avery's plan was obviously different than mine. We have school for 2 1/2 to 3 hours and this week, we had it every day. I needed to clean my bathrooms all week long, but she kept begging to do school, so they finally got cleaned on Thursday! She learns so quickly! We start off with the Pledge and end with the National Anthem, at her request. I am so proud of her hard work!

Avery also is my fellow loyal Cowboys fan! She loves to cheer for them! And she had to get new pom poms because hers were not blue! The first week of the season, she was sad because I had a Cowboys hat and blue sweatpants-and she had nothing Cowboys to wear! So, we got out her blue sweats, that and her blue pom poms are a must for every game! She even gets Haley into the games! Last week, she had to reenact Terrell Owens' touchdown for Kev (he was upstairs and missed it.)

This is Avery: Dad, Tony Romo threw the ball to T.O. and he caught it for a touchdown and did this (as she reenacted the move he made in the end zone)

She did it with such enthusiasm that me and Kev still giggle about it. I can't imagine watching a game without her! When she goes to bed in the middle of the game, it's just not the same! I love this little Cowboys fan!!

New Background

Just FYI-Avery picked the background!

Update on Roxy

I know no one is on the edge of their seat waiting to hear of the fish saga at the Byrdhouse, but here goes anyway. We had such high hopes for Roxy. She looked good for so long! But, in the end, while we were sleeping, disaster stuck once again. Roxy didn't last first night at the Byrdhouse. Apparently, Byrds really are fish killers. The most horrible thing about this death, is that in Kev's rush to go to work this morning, he forgot to flush Roxy. So, Avery's friend Taitum came over this morning while Candis had an appointment. And I overhear from the other room, "Taitum, do you want to see my dead fish?" I ran in there to see both girls peering over the fish tank looking at Roxy, still floating sideways in the water. So, evidently, I needed to flush the fish myself. You may remember, or already know, that I am a freak about germs. So the thought of getting a dead fish out of nasty water and putting it into my toilet, about sent me to the loony bin. I finally did it, with Avery watching, of course. Then I tell Avery to flush it. She says, "But Taitum needs to see it go down." She runs and gets Taitum as I shake my head and wonder if this happens to anyone else. And does anyone else's child make their friends witness a fish funeral? I sometimes think that Avery's constant (at least lately) exposure to death is a good thing, she knows what happens and isn't inconsolable. But then I wonder if the death of animals and most of the time, our eating of those same animals, is actually causing some weird fascination with death.

I guess only time will tell...

Fish...Round 2

So, Avery and I went and picked out her betta. It is a purplish pinkish male betta GIRL fish named Roxy. (Avery really wanted a girl, but really wanted the purple/pink one) She was very excited! And the good news is...she has lasted longer than all three of the goldfish combined! Maybe this ones a keeper!!

Fish

One more quick update on our fish. (or lack thereof) We have not gotten our beta yet, but are still planning on it. Kev has gotten a few more pointers on fish that will hopefully help. (although he didn't use any pointers last time) But Avery yesterday was planning her next fish shopping trip and said she wants a purple beta. (I don't even know if they have purple ones) And she wants to name her Amy or Roxy. Then she adds, "And then when that one dies, I'll get a blue one and name her Dorie." It's a good thing she is not traumatized by death!

Fish

Much to our surprise, George was not the first to go! After we put the girls in bed, Kev went to check on the fish, and poor Goldfish was a goner. Then, we went to go to bed and we looked in on them and Audrey was gone too. George was looking pretty bad, but he outlasted them all...for a couple of hours. Kev went in when he got up, and sure enough, George was gone. I still can't believe George outlived them all! Poor fish! Kev flushed them down the toilet at various times, of course. He decided I maybe was right with starting with a more resilient fish like the beta I wanted to buy. So, when Avery woke up she came in my room and said "Mom, you need to come in my room. The fish tank didn't tip over, but..." "But what??!!!" I screamed as I ran into her room, thinking it really did tip over. Kev had just left the lid open. Then she said, "but where are my fish?" She was a trooper, although a little sad. She didn't cry and she knew it was okay. But Kev promised to buy her a beta today. Apparently we'll try again. I can pretty much bet that every fish we get will end up in the toilet until we stop being so cheap and buy the stuff to make sure our water is compatible with fish. But, who knows, maybe I'm wrong!

New Additions!!!

We have new additions to the Byrdhouse! And Avery and Haley could not be happier! We went and got them 3 goldfish tonight. These are pictures of the setting up of the tank.



So, here they are: George (he's got black on top), Audrey (she's white w/ some orange spots), and Goldfish (yep, you guessed it, she's orange!) Avery named them (if you can't tell) and then when we were getting ready for bed, she informed me that they needed middle and last names as well. So Audrey Ann, Goldfish Faith, and George Fifth. With the last name Byrd, of course. Kev and I are taking bets on how long George lasts. He doesn't look so good. It couldn't be the fact that we crammed too many fish into a small tank, or that Avery and Haley keep pounding on the tank. George seemed agitated from the beginning, but they are guaranteed for 15 days, so we can always go get a free 26 cent fish when he inevitably dies in the next 2 days!!!