Wordless Wednesday: Christmas morning smiles

Griffins first Christmas


Ava's first Christmas

It's been a busy month for milestones!

Mr. Griffin has been busy.

-He started full-on crawling about a week after he turned 7 months.



-His top two teeth broke through this week.



-He started pulling up and standing up in his crib and other places that he can reach.






-He started waving on Christmas day. This totally melts me!

Musical Arts Schoolhouse Christmas Program

The winter program at her school showcased all the hard work that they have put into music and art thus far in the year at MAS. We were floored at how organized and talented both the teachers and students have been. First of all, hats off to any teacher who teaches 16 three to five year olds at a time. Hats AND shoes to those who teach art, music, dance or theater to the same children. The detail that was put into this program was just unreal. It was set up like an art show with wire racks on both sides displaying their art work. More on that later.

The program started with a performance. There were so many songs, poems, and dances too. They sang "The chubby little snowman" (our favorite I'll try to get on tape), a Spanish version of Frosty, showed us their piano skills and did some dancing in there as well. It was so so cute! Ava was on the back row so it was hard to get a good pic. However, we have fabulous pictures of Gwendolyn's performances, as well as wonderful video. =)

Next was the art show. We walked around and found their displayed work. Ms. Kerry explained to us the artists that they studied and the significance of their work. So they had everything from a self-portrait a la Picasso, to black and white photography (that they took themselves of nature = so so cute!), a la Ansel Adams. They also incorporate Science into the curriculum and studied solids and liquids while creating soap sculptures.

We were just floored! It was a great winter performance.

Merry Green Christmas Eve

A poem for my babies on Christmas Eve 2010. Merry 1st Christmas, Griffin. May the magic of the season always fill you with joy, just as it does me.


Twas the night before Christmas, when all through our home
Not a child was stirring, though soon a baby will moan.
We hung the stockings by the fireplace with such care,
Some little peepers have been caught wondering what's in there.

My babies are nestled all snug in their beds,
While coming off a sugar high, still spinning in their heads.
And mamma in her jammies, and daddy in his socks,
Have just finished wrapping our very last box.


Sitting here hoping that this Christmas is sweet,
Though I know by the big smiles and the dance of happy feet.
This eve Ava told me, "mom, this is the best Christmas ever",
As we made delicious treats and sang songs that were clever.

So much hype and excitement going into this day,
All the lights, all the goodies, all the charades.
My sweet children just happy to sit down with the fam,
Reading books together like "You can do it, Sam."

I love quality time with my family and friends,
it makes me so grateful for the time that we spend.
Baby Griff is nothing but smiles and grins,
And darling Ava is a breath of fresh air like the wind.

So on this magical night when all is quiet,
I'll take it for now, but look forward to the morning riot.
I am so lucky, so blessed in this life that I live,
A wonderful hubby and two babies that I've been given.

Let the magic begin when we awake in the morn,
Because Mr. Santa Claus has visited and we will adorn
All that he gave. But in the end what is best,
I'm living this life with my family in our nest.


I love you Daddy, Ava and Griffin! Merry Christmas 2010

Just-a-Swingin'

Griff's first time in the "big boy" swing, with a little help from Sissy. He LOVED it, can you tell?

Visiting With Santa

dEAr SAntA,

I feel so special this year! I have seen you many, many times already. Mommy tells me how special I am that Santa has come to so many places where I have been.....the Tulsa mall, the Frisco mall, Carson's birthday party, school, our neighborhood festival, and the downtown festival. WOW! I must be a pretty good girl.

I've told you the same things that I want, a ladybug pillow pet and a sailboat. I'm so glad I keep getting to remind you, seeing you every few days and all. For some reason, mommy thinks seeing you so often in the future might not be such a good idea. I might "catch on", whatever that means.

Anyway, thanks for making me feel so special! I can't wait to make some special treats for you on Christmas Eve. Tell Rudolph I said, "hi".

Love,

"Ava"

p.s. also tell Rudolph that my favorite Christmas song is about him! My rendition of that Red Nosed Reindeer is pretty "special" too!

Old friends, Same love

Ava and I got to meet up with one of Ava's oldest friends from Austin. Ava and Mimi first met in Music class when they were about 4-5 months old. It was an instant connection! They have always gotten one another and will laugh all day if they could.

Keri and Mia came up to Dallas and we met up with them at Sharkey's. The girls got hair cuts, nails painted, dance parties and a little gymnastics thrown in. It is just so neat that these girls can have fun wherever, whenever.

Happy 7 months Griffin Davis!

What a bundle of fun you are at 7 months!

You interact so much with your sister and she eats you up. Every morning she can't wait to go into your room to get you up. You and Ava have a ball together already.

Stats:
Will update. I would guess around 19 lbs.

Milestones:
-Griffin has started to sit up on his own.

-He is still army crawling and scooting, so very mobile, just not going forward on all fours yet. He likes to get up on all fours and rock. He is quite proud of himself too.

Vax:
Will update.

Diapers/Clothing:
-Still sittin pretty in size 3 dipes and 6-12 month clothes. He has started wearing his Robeez now that the weather is cold and loves to chew on them.

Eating:
Purees are going great. He is getting the hang of it and wanting more and more. So far he has had banana, avocado, green beans, peas, carrots, acorn squash and zucchini. All have been successful so far. Ava wants to try pears with him to see if he'll do what she did....cry! That was the only food that wasn't an immediate hit of hers.

Still nursing about 6 times a day: 8:00am, 11:00am, 2:00 pm, 5:00 pm, 9:00 pm, and midnight.


What I love:

I love when you smile and flirt with strangers. Your whole face lights up and you'll hide your face into my shoulder. We even got a "Thanks for the smile! I needed that today!" while we were at Target last week.

I love when you squeal in a really high pitched voice as you test out your vocals. It's so cute!

I love that when you wake in the morning, it's almost always pleasant. You'll sit in your crib and talk, never usually crying.

I love (but am sad about) that you are always sitting when I go get you out of your crib. You are no longer lying there looking up, it does make me sad though.

I love your eyes. Oh, your eyes!

Merry Main Street Festival

So I had somewhat of an epiphany last weekend at our little town's festival of lights. While our town isn't technically "little" by standards of its' population, 100K, it is really quite quaint. And in terms of area and getting places and having everything you need, it's all right here. Our decision to move was very well thought out and planned. We loved what Frisco had to offer in terms of family living, youth activities, ammenities, education and just an overall small town feel. And if you know me, you know I'll dive right in to all the activities that are offered and we have been so grateful to see so much that Frisco has to offer. So what was my epiphany and why did occur during a lighting festival?

We belong in Frisco. As I was looking around, seeing all the lights, the people, the effort that went into the event and the area itself, I had a brief insight into the reality that we up and moved, which was so hard to do as we loved our Austin home/family/friends, it dawned on me that we have now found a new place that we call home. And it feels like home now.

During our Merry Main Street experience, I felt an overwhelming sense of joy. Maybe it was seeing the twinkle in Ava's eyes or having the family together on such a cold, festive night, but I was warm with a feeling of satisfaction and contentment that we made the right move. It was just a great feeling and one that I wanted to share.

I like that we already see people we know when we do stuff like this or go to the store or the mall, etc. I love our neighbors and our neighborhood. It's just what we wanted, just so us.

Anyway, last weekend it was FREEZING and we braved it for the lighting of the Christmas tree in downtown Frisco. I just love that "downtown" isn't skyscrapers, traffic, ginormous, etc. (That's such a personal thing, but for me personally, that's what I needed in a town)It's just a few miles from us and it's so cozy and cute!

Both kids did GREAT and Ryan and I had so much fun seeing Ava have so much fun (Griffin had fun looking around too, but he had to stay warm cuddled up in his carseat so he didn't get to get out much) seeing Santa, seeing the reindeer, meeting firemen, seeing the tree, drinking hot cocoa, eating popcorn, the lights....it was just so cool!

Okay, enough tooting my own horn, thanks for letting me get that out.....