Giving Thanks

Wow. What a week. What a month! Really, what a year!!! Never did Bub the hub and I imagine how much we would have to be thankful for in 2009.

Avery is healthy, still recovering, and happy for the most part...if you don't count those pesky molars! I am thankfully still able to stay home with her. I have the MOST wonderful, supportive family you could ever ask for. My heart is overwhelmed with thanks today for these very things, and much more. I hope you all had an equally wonderful Thanksgiving.

Anyhoo, we aren't sure what all YOU did today, but this is what lil'bub was up to:

watched a little football with Uncle Drew

went cruisin a couple (million) times

did some swinging with mom

did some fussin'

then napped while we ate turkey!

thanks for another delicious dinner Nana!
(now I won't eat again for a week)

School Party

At the beginning of lil'bub's school year, all the moms got to sign-up for the holiday parties that they wanted to help out with. I got Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day, so yesterday I took cupcakes and goodie baskets for the kids. It was so fun. I made the cutest darn turkey cupcakes you have EVER seen!

Then, since there are only four of them in the class, I filled little baskets with a cute book and finger puppets and some fall things.

I get a kick out of doin stuff like this

Then I got to go take pictures while they "partied." This pretty much consisted of smearing cupcakes all over their faces. Fine with me! Here are the cute pics.

pretty table

smearing is just part of the fun!

Avery's good friend Lily Kate

Turkey Day is almost here y'all. Where did the time go?

The Story of Hair

Lil'bub was born with a good amount of hair.
Exhibit A:
Some hair was then sacrificed for greater purposes.

Exhibit B:

Although it attempted to return,
Exhibit C:
it was thwarted twice more!
Exhibits D & E:

But then the hair finally got its chance to grow...
Exhibit F:

Until she could finally wear bows!
Exhibit G:

And wear them she did--they got bigger and bigger.

Exhibit H:

We expanded to headbands...
Exhibit I:

Then, if you will recall last summer, the hair grew long enough to be gathered into both pony and pigtails!
Exhibits J & K:
Recently her hair got a little out of control...
Exhibit L:

So we've tamed it with styles and headpieces galore!
Exhibits M,N&O:And then this morning I was able to pull out the most glorious pigtails for school. So proud of myself for this do, especially considering lil'bub still acts like the world is ending when I mess with her hair. Just look at these long locks!

Sorry folks, this post got a little longer than I expected!

Riding Along...

in my autoMObiiiile...my baby is there behind the wheeeeeeel...blah blah-blah blah blah blaaaah...with no particular place to goooo!!

We treated lil'bub to a trip to Babies'R'Us last week and came home with a new ride. Much cheaper than mommy and daddy's ride, but waaaay more stylin. BEHOLD the "Whisper Ride."

also known as "Cochecito Silencio,"
it is indeed quiet...

except for when lil'bub uses her *pointer finger*
to honk the loud horn!

watch out y'all, she's proven a bit reckless
(oh wait, we are the ones steering her :)

she likes toting her toys in the front trunk

you know, just in case she gets a flat and gets bored

Daddy and lil'bub have actually invented a new game with the Whisper Ride too. It resembles an odd form of polo. It involves pushing her bouncy ball along the side of her car as she sits in it. Pretty hilarious actually. She's definitely working on her balance!

kinda makes you want a hot pink car doesn't it?

How-To

I've been thinking a lot lately about those "how-to" projects I did in elementary school. You know, those assignments where you have to write out every single little step it takes to complete a task. By the end of it, I was usually frustrated about having to break it down so completely. It's a pretty well-rounded lesson, I think, that we have been learning again working with lil'bub. I can probably sum it up well with one word. PATIENCE, my friends. It's something that I've never had enough of, something that I am constantly working on, and something that Bub the hub already has a wealth of (annoying right?). PATIENCE is required to be a good teacher.

A good example is working on Avery's pincer grasp. So, like picking up really small things using just her thumb and pointer finger. She'd rather just rake things up. This task usually comes pretty easily to children that have not had 5 brain surgeries. But before we can even focus on pincers, we have to start at the beginning. Which first means getting her to isolate her pointer finger. So we press on play-doh, we press on light switches, and we press on toy buttons. Let me tell you, this has totally done the trick. It's actually done the trick so well, that lil'bub wants to use her pointer finger now for everything. It's cracking us up. She wants to open and close big heavy doors and roll her ball using just her pointer. She even wants to point on (poke) us now! But in fact it did lead to her using pincers more, and more accurately. Cool huh?

When I type "how-to" into google search, a list automatically pops up. I am assuming it is the most searched how-to's. Interesting that this is what our society cares about most:

how to make baby food

how to tie a tie

how to kiss
how to get pregnant
how to lose weight

how to make a website

how to write a resume

how to solve a rubix cube (those cheaters!)

Here are some shorter Avery "how-to's":

How to best enjoy Mickey Mouse Club cartoons....

with your Minnie doll!!

How to best rock the 80's side ponytail....

just like Avery!

How to best melt mom and dad's heart....

as a fairy of course !

Get Out of the Pool!

Lil'bub was well on her way to having the best swim therapy session EVER this morning when a slight mishap occurred about 10 minutes into the appointment. As you might have guessed from the title of this post, another child in the pool had an accident, and everyone had to get out. Quickly.

Avery found the yelling and running out of the pool pretty hilarious actually, although I was mostly annoyed. Don't get me wrong, I know it wasn't the child's fault, and these things do happen. But for Pete's sake! It was the first time that she had allowed her aqua therapist to handle her completely, without my assistance. And she was happy about it! (Not to mention again the whole trek across Houston in the first place) We got dressed and did a little physical therapy on land, so it wasn't a total loss. Although, I am already freaked out enough about her getting swine flu, I really didn't want to add pool-borne illnesses to the list. Hopefully we got out in time.

After we finished, I called Bub the hub to tell him what happened. I'm pretty sure he's still laughing. He was immediately reminded of some scene from "Caddyshack" that escapes me, but I'm sure some of you out there can relate. Makes him giggle like a little kid. I think he would giggle a little less if HE had been in the pool.

This is my first post without photos! But I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to see any from what happened anyway, right?