4th times a charm?

Not really...

So we have been trying to find a gate for the bottom of our stairs because the girls play on the main floor and Avery has been scaling them. We have tried 3 different types that seemed to be what we needed based on their boxes, non would work at the bottom due to the fact that there isn't any studs on the bottom.

After chasing Avery up the stairs over 30 times yesterday I called DH and bagged him to get a gate while he was out at work.

So he brings home another one that can't go at the bottom of the stairs. I guess at the top of the first set is the best we can do... but it still means that Avery can climb to the gate and look pathetic.

We are in jail! 

Gwen was using the red heart shape as an empty cup to rattle along the bars... silly girl! 

Rhys wanted to join the jail 

looking in on the prisoners 

if we look pathetic you'll take it down right???

if I can put things on the other side I can get out too???

Not sure how I'm going to get them to stop climbing even these stairs, I guess eventually it will loose its luster and they will stop. But today isn't that day

how many?

Really Gwen it takes a minimum of 3 spoons to feed you? One in each hand, plus the one I'm using? Oh look you have dropped one, and took mine? Ok getting you another one... oh you dropped another? How many spoons Gwen.... 10!? Ok that's a new record

I would have taken pics off her pile but sissy Avery won't stop climbing the stairs and no gate I have fond yet works for our stairs

Dear cold and flu season,

knock it off, and leave!

-the Brothers household

kids with the Easter bunny 

Busy

The kids have been sick to various degrees.

Rhys is obsessed with the Avengers, and got a toy bow and arrow set from my mom. He's also going around setting up booby traps.

Gwen ended up needing to go into the ER and she has pneumonia but that will be a latter post.

Avery also started climbing the stairs yesterday, need to find a gate that works (we have tried 3 so far but none seems to work)

But here are pics from St. Patrick's day

Gwen showing off playing while drinking 

Teething with pneumonia is no fun!  

Rhys is on an Avengers kick 

Avery is loving her skirt 

Gwen decided that she needed to be in front of Avery

"Can't see her mom!"

Playing together 

"Hi mom!"

first taste 

on tiptoe to get more 

wont let go of pop

yum!

Gwen just wanted to play with nana's purse 

are you saying I can't get this open?

I know it -does- open

last snuggle with Nan before their trip

if I take her bag, she can't go!

nearsighted with a astigmatism

girls waiting for their drops at the eye appointment 

Apparently miss Avery is nearsighted and has a astigmatism.

At the moment they cancel each other out and can correct itself as she gets older. It can also get worse, or stay the same. If it keeps the way it is she will be in glasses by the time she is in kindergarten. Never thought she had a vision issue given how she notices the smallest things nearby and far away and rushes to something she wants. But that is okay, Daddy has glasses and her issue isn't from being early its just genes.

Avery - May 2012 by Auntie Mae

Avery - June 2012 by Auntie Mae

Avery - Aug 2012 by Auntie Mae

Avery - Oct 2012 by Auntie Mae

Avery - by Auntie Mae

Seems like a sin that those beautiful piercing eyes will probably be covered by glasses, but its fine! 

appointments

The girls have a eye appointment this afternoon.

They are still not asleep for their nap...

They need to get up in a half hour...

Over tired Avery during Christmas

Over tired Gwen during Christmas

This is going to be a long day....

itinerant teacher

Just got a call from Gwen's itinerant teacher, she will start some time in April. Not sure yet what they will do due to her age, but we can get started.

Also, Gwen has been more and more of a drama queen when it comes to doing what Avery can. Avery has always been further along in crawling, standing, and trying to walk. So Gwen has been getting mad when she can't do what Avery is and has been standing up to things and screaming because she starts to do the splits because she is too tall and her legs aren't strong enough yet. Today she found that the bouncer is tall enough to stand tall to and was happy!

Gwen standing up

Gwen bending down and not screaming 

Laryngitis

its hard to parent with laryngitis... And now DH is working a day shift, how to rest my voice to get it back?

The girls last year:

Avery - March 12, 2012

Avery - March 12, 2012

Gwen - March 12, 2012

Gwen - March 12, 2012

 The purple blanket on Gwen I was just folding, its seen better days!

A weekend in pics

We got the PS3 Move, the kids love it!

Rhys, Gwen & Avery

Gwen & Avery watching their brother 

Gwen reaching for it

Gwen loves her brother 

After a bath we dressed the girls on our bed, Avery decided it was time to practice walking 

Avery 

Avery showing off 

 Loving the cat letting them get close in the last week

Avery & Kuro

Avery & Kuro

Avery & Kuro 

I couldn't get a pic of Gwen and the cat because she always moved too quick!

Missing my kids

So I was out to a baby shower today in the community I'm from. So I didn't get to see my kids much today. I missed them. I've been scrap-booking/card-making for some time now and decided to make a different one last night. I kinda wish I had more time to work on it, but I'm happy with it. 

Baby shower card I made

It was nice to get out and see family, but I did miss the kids. The girls had fun with daddy, and Rhys was out with my dad.

Old photos, old friends, real conversation

My grandmother died more then year and a half ago, and my mom is the only one of her kids that live in the same area so her and dad have been cleaning out her house and bringing me things that belong to me.

Today, I opened a box of my stuff and came across pictures I was looking for over a decade ago! I scanned them in and posted them on facebook, and have had many long talks with old friends over the day.

My oldest friend messaged me to call now that he lives away. We became friends in the first grade, bonding over grief. October has become an important month for us. The one we lost our first family members, became friends, the one I got married in (and he helped marry my DH and I), and recently the month he got ordained as a deacon. Who knows, that might be the month he gets ordained as a priest.  

Jeffy & I - June 1999

Jeffy always said he would marry me one day - Oct 2009

We haven't "talked" since Oct at his ordination, messaged each other yes, but not talked together. It was nice to talk about the old days, and what is on the go now.

One of the conversations that always comes up is religion, how can it now with a priest (I know Jeffy if you are reading your saying "I'm not a priest yet") I'm not an overly religious person. I do have beliefs, they are personal, but they exist. I did explain that I understood and felt god in the four months we spent in the NICU more then I ever did in the 28 years previously. I'll never truly understand, or can explain it. But I don't think that is important. To me religion is what you make of it, what you feel, hear, and experience. Its not my place to preach. For Jeffy, it is his place to guide those who are called to his path, and honestly they couldn't ask for a better guide.


It was nice to just talk, ignore the messaging systems and have a human conversation. I miss my Jeffy and wish him the best always. It wasn't hard to spend an hour on the phone with him, and I'm sure if he wasn't called away to carry on with his hard but rewarding work we would have talked even longer.