What's A 3 year old like?

At our house many, many things!  Hilarious, sweet, dramatic, tired, busy, busy, busy. 

Avery is so much fun to be around.  I am writing down the funny things he says in his quotable kid journal daily. 

It looks like he will be a very averaged sized guy.  He has made it all the way to 28 pounds this year!  He is about 50% for height and 25% for weight. 

I love that he puts his spin on everything these days.  If you ask him to count to ten he says 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10!  I think this is from playing hide and seek, because all you have to say is "do it right" and he gets all the numbers all the way to 20.  The same is true for the Abc's, he will go from g to z if you don't request the extended version. 

Avery loves school.  I feel very guilty that we were so hard on him about his behavior.  While I firmly believe that he contributes to the issues, after talking with his teachers and the director of his school, I think the biggest issue is a class with several rowdy kiddos.  His teachers promise they love him and are helping him to have "great days" with his handy new sticker chart.  I also have the strongest of assurances that he will have teachers who have teaching degrees next year to challenge Avery and his friends.  :)  Anyway, he LOVES school.  He has so much fun and tells us all about his friends and that they play.  He will even occasionally tell you what he learned about.  My favorite was when he learned stop, drop and roll.  Every time he talks about it he shows and tells very emphatically about each step. 

Avery also loves church.  He asks to go every day.  He loves our children's minister Mr. Jeremy and makes him sing "all the nations" when he sees him if I don't remember to tell him not to first.  I am sure it also because Avery thinks the preacher, John, is his personal entertainment slave and John and his family are all to happy to oblige.  However, Avery does feel that church is for snacking and chatting not so much singing and allowing others around you to worship and focus. 

Avery LOVES to be outside.  This weather is killing us because it is beautiful but I am having to keep my allergy kid inside.  We play on his bicycle and with wiffle balls, ride in his car and go to the park as often as we can. 

Avery does not love brushing his teeth.  He is doing much better and thought the dentist was a blast, but would pass on daily brushing every day.

Avery does not love eating vegetables.  We bribe shamefully every night at dinner to get him to eat one or two bites of the provided veggies.  I laughed so hard the night Uncle Jeff convinced Avery to eat a brussel sprout, he gagged like a big dog but choked it down to make Jeff proud and get some dessert.  In Avery's world we would eat cheetos, cheese, fruit and goldfish with dessert of course!

Avery does not love not being the center of attention.  As long as you are chit chatting with him, life is good.  But, if you dare to talk to someone else he will do his very best to get your attention.  Usually sweetly at first but by all means necessary if need be. 

Avery does not love sharing on your terms.  He is actually a very good sharer if it was his idea, but if it was yours it takes some serious coaxing.  I feel like this is par for the course at 3. 

Avery does not love getting dressed in the mornings.  I don't know why but if I ask him to do it he flips his lid.  In the afternoons after his nap it is the total opposite, if I dare to help him put his shorts on he is totally offended. 

These are a few of the loves and not so loves of my favorite 3 year old boy! 

My Baby's Not 3!

I was hoping if I didn't post it, it wouldn't be true.  I can't believe my baby boy turned 3 last week!  to prove I do love him and didn't ignore the big day he will get 3 birthday posts! 

BIRTHDAY POST #1 The actual day....

He had a WONDERFUL birthday.  This year was really fun, because he got it!  Avery loved all his birthday phone calls.  They started while he was still lounging and watching cartoons in my bed.  He would very politely say, "thank you, thank you berry much" to all his well wishers.

By breakfast Avery understood that there were rules to be broken!

He asked for goldfish for breakfast, and actually got a yes out of the deal. 
So, he quickly amended his request to include a few other something specials.

M&M's!!!

We sadly did not have our traditional birthday lunch with daddy since it was a school day.  But, I think the alternative was pretty fun!

Especially when I showed up with birthday cookies for Avery and his friends!

Gracie lead us in a very high, very sweet version of Happy Birthday that I loved (and so did A.)

Aunt Linde and Uncle Jeff were so sweet to come to dinner of very random requests black eyed peas, pizza and salad with croutons!

They showed true love being extra sweet to a slightly sickly birthday boy!  (I am very sad that both of the boys were sick-ish on their birthdays allergy season birthdays are unfortunate at our house.)

Avery is pumped about his project bucket (art supplies) new kite, pj's and tiny table!

Hhe set up his table, put out M&M's at each place and told us which friend was going to sit at each spot.  (Guess i better set up a play date or 2)

Lucky for daddy even 3 year old boys LOVE some lap time in their new super hero pj's. 
He also actually liked his Dr Suess birthday book this year, but i didn't get a picture!

Spring Break 2011

Our spring break was interesting and at times very fun.  Avery had a great first dentist visit and Hank got a super cute big boy haircut, although I am pretty emotional about it.  We made the Tyler rounds and got to see Pop, Abby Leonard, Grandma and Grandad, and Honey and Granny all in one day.  The boys shared a stomach bug and were gracious enough to pass in on to LouLou. 
I think our Saturday night trip to Target sums it all up.  Avery kept waving the box of tampons I needed at Michael saying, "Daddy, daddy are these for me? Can I have the green ones? I like green" and adding in a "Daddy, I don't want a spankin" every 4-5 minutes for good measure.  Spring break was ex-ci-ting at our house!
I forgot my camera for our Tyler adventures, but I will have some of Hank's hair cut to post once I get them off my dad's camera. 

Avery Kate and Henrietta

I LOVE being a boy Mom.  I never thought I would, but I do.  The boys are hilarious.  They say and do things that would literally NEVER occur to me.  They are pretty low drama.  Their hair is very easy to fix.  The look adorable in sweater vests.  Little boy underwear are simply hilarious.  I LOVE that they love each other so much!

I didn't even pose this!  Can you believe it? 

But every now and then I like to day dream about what it would be like to have a little princess in the mix of all my princes. 

Meet Henrietta

and Avery Kate

Aren't they precious?????

Hanky's First Birthday!

I can't believe my second baby boy is 1!
We had a great day celebrating our littler prince!
We started out with blueberry waffles.

Hank happens to think they are pretty great, and best enjoyed with one in each hand.

We also had lunch with Daddy at Chick Fil-A.  Hank also happens to think that nuggets are pretty fabulous, but I can't get the pictures to upload. 

For dinner Aunt Linde and Uncle Jeff came over and had supper and of course a Birthday Sprinkle!

Hank says Sprinkles red velvet cupcakes are way better than vanilla cake. 

Being a BIG 1 year old boy, means you need a chair to call your own!

I wised up this year and skipped the rather long Dr. Suess birthday book and went with Happy Birthday Little Pokie.  Obviously, Hank NEVER would have made it through the longer story.

Happy Hanky!  That's our one year old boy.  I love his birthday pictures this month because they all sum him up, happy, smiley and busy busy busy. 

Hank is the speediest crawler I know.  He also loves to laugh and play, especially with his big brother.  He thinks Avery is the funniest, and that whatever he has must be more fun than anything else in the house.  Hank loves cheese, bread, yogurt, cheerios, crackers, cheese, cheerios, cheese, crackers, cheese....I think you might be noticing that there are no fruits or vegetables on the list.  But, we are working on it.  Hank is a trooper, he has yet another double ear infection.  You wouldn't know it if it weren't for the early morning chit chat he would like to have, and the unbelievably short nap he thinks is enough to get through the day.  Hank transitioned to a sippy cup and whole milk like a champ.  He is also easing in to life with his passy only at bedtime with little trouble.  I think I have a tiny bit of influence with him, since he gets sad when I tell him no, but he doesn't stop either so I guess it's a draw.  Hank loves to play with the bucket that holds all the balls, he will load and unload them forever.  He also loves the bucket of cars and to pull anything he can off a table or shelf.  Life is NEVER dull when Hanky is around.  We are so thankful for our happy, healthy Hanky!

Hanky Panky Party

Saturday we celebrated Hank's first birthday!  My oh my! 
Michael makes fun of me, but I think the first birthday party is a celebration of all the people who have helped us through the first year of our little precious' life.  So, I do a little more than I would for regular old birthday party, or should I say Linde does?
First, Sharon created these fabulous invitations.  I love her Redbud Designs!  She has totally come through for us on Christmas cards, birth announcements and party invitations. 

Then Aunt Linde came over and helped us get the place ready. 

I have to say I love my birthday balloon wreath!  It is perfectly bright and colorful and will be so fun for all the birthdays we celebrate at our house.  I also loved my Hank's root beer party favors.  Linde worked her magic on the mantles and also made the super cute cones that the french fries went in, unfortunately I forgot to take their picture. 

After yummy burgers (daddy sure is a great griller) and fries, as well as Old Fashioned Root Beer float punch, Old Fashioned lemonade and good Old fashioned water we got to the cake!!

Hank was not even a little interested in the vanilla, but lucky for him Daddy suggested we try chocolate.  It was a HIT!

We had a great time, the big kids played outside forEVER, I am so glad they had fun.  Unfortunately, they had so much fun outside I didn't get to make them play my Old fashioned party games.  But, the adults were good sports and played my guess how old Hanky is.  I put out all his monthly photos with his elephant buddy and they tried to put them in order.  Honey won in a tie breaker, it was a close race!

We are so thankful for all our friends and family that helped us celebrate Hanky!

Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures with the friends because Hanky was pooped when I remembered to bust out the camera. 

Hanky Panky and I talked and we would like to dedicate this ONEderful party to his beloved Aunt Linde!  Not only did she come up with the cutest baby boy nick name ever, she also came and worked her tail off Friday night to help me get the place cuted up.  While I might have some ideas I always get nervous, worried and unable to execute.  Plus she has better ideas, too.  She and Uncle Jeff also made punch, picked up french fries, and just generally helped out along with all our family the day of the party. 

Thanks Aunt Linde we sure do LOVE you!



We've been having fun!

Hank and daddy bonding while mamma tries out her new Valentines Day camera!

The weather has FINALLY been nice enough for Avery to give the old bike a ride or 12!

We also got to play lots of baseball and practiced hitting right and left handed because Avery noticed Daddy does it different.

This picture cracks me up...little orphan Avery.  He looks so pitiful even though he was having so much fun in the tub last night. 

I LOVE when my babies sleep late.  This little punkin snoozed until I woke him up at 11 Saturday morning.  (old friends did you notice who is still standing guard in my bed?)