How to Make a Footprint Snowman Family

Well, it has almost officially been the snowiest January EVER!  Oh yeah, and also one of the coldest EVER!  These are not the kind of records that I particularly want to witness.:)  We had another weekend at home due to snow and that meant lots of family time, which I am certainly not complaining about.  Everything has its perks!

I had seen an idea from Pinterest on this blog and decided that this would be a great way to commemorate the winter that we barely left our house!:)

This is what resulted!:)  It was really quite easy.  I bought a canvas that was big enough to fit Bry's foot and painted it completely blue.  Then we took turns putting our footprints on it in white.  After they were dry, I took more white paint and painted snow drifts under our feet.  I used basic craft paints to add details to the feet to make them look like snowpeople...hats, scarves, coal eyes and mouth, a carrot nose, buttons, and stick arms.  I finished it off by adding some white dots to represent the ever falling snow and tada!  Our footprint snowman family! 

We were slightly preoccupied with the painting of the feet and managed to not take one single process photo!  We took this photo after it was completed while the girls were wearing their snowgirl shirts.:)  This was the first handprint/footprint craft we have made where Alexis actually seemed to like getting her foot painted.  Ava just went with the flow, as usual!  I am so excited to have this sweet art to hang in our home for years to come!:)

Ava: 2 Months Old!

Miss Ava Lynn is two months old!

It took us two days to get a good photo of her because she was just so tired yesterday that she wouldn't hold her head up very well.  She ended up toppling over like this.:)

Ava, here's what you are up to this month:

• We haven't been to your two month appointment yet so I'm not sure about your stats.  I will update when we find out.  You are definitely a growing girl!:) **Updated...we went to your two month appointment on 2/6/14 and you weighed 14 lbs. 6 oz.!  That puts you above the 97th percentile for weight!  The nurse even weighed you twice just to be sure.:)  You are 24 1/4" long, which is the 97th percentile.  Your head is now 41.3 cm in circumference.  Dr. Landrigan said that you are very proportionate so all is well!:)
• You are wearing 0-3 month and 3 month clothes. 
• You are wearing size 2 diapers.
• You nurse every 3 hours during the day.  You took a bottle for the first time last month and you do so well with it!  You take a 4 ounce bottle of breastmilk every night before bed.
• You have been sleeping SO well!  You usually go to bed around 8pm and you don't wake up until at least 4am...sometimes not until 6am!  Mama loooooooves it!:)  You nurse and go right back to sleep until Lex gets up around 8.
• You are still sleeping in our room for now.  It has been such a cold winter and we don't want to have to worry about you being too cold in your room.  You have stopped grunting so much so we are able to sleep much better.:)  Maybe in another few weeks!
• You usually take two actual naps a day with several catnaps in between.  You usually sleep in your bed for about 45 minutes in the morning and then we snuggle for your afternoon nap.  You will sleep for as long as I will hold you...usually until your sister wakes up and needs me to get her!
• You love your bouncy seat and you think the swing is okay.  You have started to like your activity mat!
• You have been smiling so much lately!  I just love to see your face light up.
• You take a binky any time you are fussy.  Sometimes you want it when you go to sleep, but you don't always seem to need it!
• Your umbilical cord fell off when you were 5 weeks old.  We were so glad because it was getting stinky!
• You like to take a bath, but you do NOT like to get out of the tub and get dressed!  You can cry and scream with the best of them!:)
• You have the sweetest personality.  You are just so happy 99% of the time!  You let us know when you are hungry or sleepy with little fusses here or there.  You cry loudly when you get out of the bath tub or when you get hurt (usually by your overly loving sister:).
• Your hair is still reddish/light brown and so pretty!  You have a pretty good bald spot in the back now from laying on your back.:)
• People say that you look like your sister, but I don't always see it!
• You are a snuggler!  I love when I hold you up on my shoulder and you kind of wrap your little arm around my neck.  I'm soaking up every minute of cuddles I can get!
• Mama left you with Grandma for an hour or so while I ran to Walmart the other day and that is the first time that you were alone with someone other than Mama or Daddy.  You did great, of course!  With Valentine's Day coming up, we have a couple of dates planned so you will get some more time with your family!:)
• We like to call you Ave, Avey-Wavey, Sissy, and Kitty-cat (Mama likes that one!).

Darling child,

We absolutely love waking up to your smiling face every day.  You are just so sweet and pleasant and you make our lives so full.  It's amazing how quickly we have adjusted to your presence in our home and how we can not imagine our lives without you now.  You are a bright spot in every single day!  We love you!

"Christmas" Dresses

The girls finally got to wear their Christmas dresses in the middle of January! They weren't feeling well for a couple of weeks and then church was cancelled because of snow.

Sweet sisters! They looked so beautiful!

One with our whole fam! This was the best we could do!:)

Snow Day!

Alexis had so much fun playing in the snow during the big snow storm!  We decided to get her some proper snow gear so that she could really enjoy it without Mama worrying about her.:)

Daddy helped her get all ready to go!

Then he got dressed and they headed out together!

She did a lot of standing around once she was all bundled up.:)

She looked like a little pink marshmallow! 

She wanted Daddy's help to get up!:)

Making a snow angel?  I'm not sure that was on purpose!  They stayed outside for about an hour and she still kicked and screamed when she had to come in!:)

A picture of little sister for the record...she's just too small for playing in the snow right now!  But she looks awfully cute in her purple hat, anyhow.:)

Ava's First Bottle

I finally bit the bullet and pumped so that Ava could try taking a bottle!

She snuggled up with her daddy at bedtime...

...and sucked it right down!

I am so thankful that she took it easily! I love nursing her, but I also love the option to get away here and there. I think Bry enjoys giving her bottles occasionally, too. I love that baby!:)

"Snowmaggedon" 2014

We have had an interesting few days in our neck of the woods!  People have jokingly been referring to it as "Snowmaggedon" and in truth we have had near blizzard conditions.  It started Sunday morning and we got around 12" of snow in the course of the day. 

Thankfully, it was decently warm (30 degrees, ha!) that morning so we bundled Alexis up in her hand-me-down coat, her footie pajamas, and her rubber boots to go outside!:)

She LOVED it! 

We haven't bought any real snow gear for her yet because we weren't sure that she would really like being all bundled up and out in the cold.

Looks like we will be heading out to get some snow pants and boots as soon as the roads clear up!:)  (She was blowing her mama kisses in this pic...sweet girl!)

We weren't planning to let her do much since she wasn't really properly dressed, but she tromped her way right out into the yard...

...and before long, she was all the way out in the pasture!  Not long after this pic, Daddy picked her up and carried her, kicking and screaming, back to the house!

Little sister had to stay in the house while we were outside.  Lex came right back in and gave her kisses!

Bryan had to go to work Sunday afternoon so we spent that time playing with all of Lex's toys!

By the end of Sunday night, we had a LOT of snow!  I wanted to document Ava with the snow so I had Bry take her just outside the door for 10 seconds...she was not a fan!!!:)

It took her longer to recover than it took to take the picture.:)

Late Sunday night, the wind picked up and started blowing all of the snow we had gotten.  Road conditions went from bad to worse and almost the entire state was under an "emergency only" travel warning.  Unfortunately, that doesn't prevent Bryan from having to go to work and he had to dig out our driveway by hand to go to work Monday morning.  I was a nervous wreck, but he made it okay.  The temperatures plummeted and it has been bitterly cold, with wind chills as low as -40!  Now it's Tuesday afternoon and the travel emergency has been lifted, but the roads are still pretty awful.  It's supposed to start warming up tomorrow so hopefully we will be able to get out towards the end of the week.  This storm has taken my job as stay-at-home mom to a whole other level!:)  I've loved the time with my family!

Ava's First Real Bath

After five weeks and two days, Ava's umbilical cord fiiiiiiiiinally fell off!  We were so glad because it was starting to get really stinky!

We celebrated by giving Ave her first real bath in the bathtub! 

She liked it SO much better than the sponge baths that she had been getting...until it was time to get out anyway.:)

Our precious, sudsy girl!  We might just have another water baby on our hands!:)

Happy New Year!

How on earth is it 2014 already?!  We celebrated New Year's Eve at home with our girls and Pat & Linda.  We were happy to be in our comfy clothes, with the girls safe in their beds, while we rang in the new year!  We had fun playing euchre and Pit after the girls went to sleep.

Alexis snuggled right up by Grandpa to watch Mickey Mouse before bedtime!

Linda was holding a brownie to eat on the way home so she needed some help tying her shoes!  Ha!:)

 

Our goals for 2013 were to pay off one of our two remaining student loans and to enjoy life with Alexis.  I am very happy to say that we were successful on both accounts! 

 

For 2014, we have a few more goals that we would like to achieve.  As a couple, we want to rebuild our emergency fund and continue to keep our credit card debt at $0.  We are also debating between paying off one of our small Mohela loans or paying off our Acadia loan early.  We are going to decide after we find out how much we get back on our tax return this year. 

 

Individually, we are focusing on health and fitness this year!  I plan to lose about 25 pounds and get back to my wedding day weight.  I am giving myself until the end of the year...this should be pretty do-able!  (Please, Lord, let it be do-able!!:)  Bry wants to get back to running and do it at least 1-2 times per week.  We are starting up our YMCA membership so that we can spend some time there.  Bryan's other goal is to teach Alexis how to swim...as well as she is capable of at this time, at least!:)  I love the start of a new year and the inspiration to be better that it brings!