Spring updates!

I'm finally getting around to posting an update. Time just flies by! 

Spring is finally here and it's been getting hot very quickly. I'm definitely dreading the sweltering Summer weather that's just around the corner, but in the meantime, we've had some nice days for the kids to play outside. We've been gradually accumulating more and more outdoor toys to keep the kids active and entertained. I've become a regular Craigslist shopper and have found some fantastic deals on playhouses and various toys that would cost a fortune brand new. I have decided that secondhand toys are the way to go! Having 2 kids in diapers, constantly outgrowing clothes and accumulating various medical bills at warp speed (nothing serious thankfully, just everything x 2), saving money has become a new religion in our home.

Speaking of medical bills x 2, the kids both just had to get tubes in their ears because of the multitude of ear infections they have been plagued with over the past several months. Their procedures were done on April 7 and they did great. They acted as if nothing happened and we are hopeful that this will improve their overall health and hearing in the long term.

Now we are coming up on their 2nd birthday in a matter of weeks and wondering where the time goes! They are growing and changing faster and faster every day. It's getting more fun with each new stage, but bittersweet to think about how quickly it goes. I swear I'm going to wake up tomorrow and they're going to be fighting over who gets to borrow the car on Friday night! I know it's a loooonnng ways away, but I just want to hold on to these days when Mommy and Daddy are the center of their worlds and snuggling on the couch watching Elmo's World can make anything that's wrong in their lives completely disappear. Why can't life stay that simple? :)

Well, let's move on to the photo updates............

Backyard playtime with Elmo!

The kids have moved up to eating at the kitchen table instead of their highchairs. They still use their highchairs for some meals, but we have now made it a routine to eat dinner together as a family at the "big" table. The kids love it and dinnertime can be very entertaining sometimes ;)

Mmmmm, Ava's first experience with chocolate sauce. It was served with fruit, however I'm not sure any of the fruit made it into her mouth!

Being at the "big" table now, we have been working on introducing table manners. Unfortunately, we have our work cut out for us with Ava. Here are a few examples of her standard mealtime behaviors.......

She INSISTS on putting her feet on the table during and after a meal!

The kids are very much into mimicking behaviors at this stage. They see us sitting at the table reading the paper so they like to do this as well. Here Ava is looking at a real estate magazine.... I'm thinking she's about ready for her own room, at least! Brothers can be very irritating! ;)

Bedtime!

Elliot in all his Elmo glory!

Passed out!

 

While Ava has to throw everything out of her crib before she will go to sleep, Elliot loves to sleep with lots of stuffed animals. Usually it's just Elmo, Cookie Monster and Mickey, but this particular night, he had to fill his crib with most of the animals in their toy box. This is how we found him in the morning....