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Averi Kate thinks Claire is funny.

Here's a taste of Claire's songwriting skills, personal language, and weird imagination.

Classic.

Some pretty sweet moves.

Bubbles.

Lately

Claire lately...

...is playing more independently. She will go into her imaginary world for longer periods of time, taking care of her baby dolls, cooking food, and who knows what else. She talks to herself constantly. She is really good at puzzles and is getting more independent with those. It is so much fun to watch her play and develop. She is also all about painting these days. Not a day goes by when we don't pull out fingerpaint, watercolors, or acrylic paint at least once (usually more).
...is also starting to include Averi Kate in her playing. The other day AK was in her playcenter and Claire kept running back and forth, bringing her dolls and animals. I caught on that Averi Kate was the doctor and Claire was the mommy, bringing her sick babies in. Just now we walked into the living room and Claire was actually trying to hold AK, which is a no-no, of course...but when we told her, "Claire, don't hold Averi Kate!", she responded with "But I'm her mommy! I'm big like you guys!" It was more than a little hard not to laugh.
...loves to sing. She continues to belt out her classic favorites, like "Jesus Loves Me" and "Haccheus." But she also makes up songs all the time. They are usually a combination of real and made up words. For a 2 year old, she has really good pitch and actually stays on key most of the time.
...is funny. The other day AK started crying and Claire rushed up to her, started hugging her and crying out, "It's okay Averi Kate! It's okay! Children obey your parents in the Lord, Averi Kate!!! Children obey your parents in the Lord!!!" Not your standard comfort line, but hilarious for sure.

Averi Kate lately...
...is sleeping better. Sometimes. Really, she is pretty inconsistent but she will go all night sometimes without waking up. Then there are those other nights.
...is happy. She smiles easily and absolutely adores anyone who will interact with her. She is pretty content as long as someone is in the same room with her, but she hates being left alone. She is ticklish and has the cutest laugh.
...is enamored with her big sister. I have caught her on several occasions laughing out loud when she was just watching Claire being silly. I love her expression whenever she sees Claire for the first time each morning.
...loves books! Claire didn't develop a love for books until much later; in fact, when she was a young baby she used to cry when I would try to read to her. Not so for AK! She loves being read to and being included when I read to her big sister. It is fun to sit on the couch all together and dive into some good books.
...loves her playcenter (pictured below). I think she loves it more than Claire did when she was a baby. AK has great hand-eye coordination, and I think that has something to do with it.
...was in the 50%ile for weight and I think the 75%ile for height at her last checkup. Perfectly normal :)

Enjoy some of her classic AK expressions...

Oh how we love our girls! They make us so happy, they make us so tired, they make us frustrated, they make us cry out to the Lord for wisdom and grace. They delight our hearts and teach us so much. Thank you, sweet Lord, for these precious souls You have entrusted into our care!

Family Picnic

Gigi and Becca came to visit us this weekend! It was so fun to see and spend a little time with my sister and her sweet friend Gigi and Bean tie the knot in less than 2 weeks!

We were able to meet up with Bo, Bonnie, and Justice for a family picnic on Sunday night. While waiting for those three to arrive, we explored a little and found some horses!

Here are the girls riding over to the horse pasture...

Petting the horse, who got a little spooked by Averi Kate crying!

Here are the girls having supper together!

A little fatherly advice about watching out for the roots on the ground...

Sweet college friends!

AK just taking in the action...

Justice wasn't too sure about this hug...

But Claire was!

Both of these cousins have a love for rocks!

Averi Kate was happy as usual!

Bo and the Coach played a little tennis...

...while the girls watched!

AK was intense.

Claire and Justice had a blast together...

"Semi-Pro"

Averi Kate was intrigued by Justice...

Lovin' on her sweet Aunt Bonnie!

Shower Fun

 Well, it's been a while since I updated the blog, hasn't it?! We have had a lot going on lately. A couple of weeks ago our dear friend Jay passed away unexpectedly. (You can read about it here.) So needless to say, we have been on the road and off our schedules quite a bit. But even in our grief, we have also had reason to celebrate as my sweet sister gets ready to be married in less than a month! The girls and I were able to travel down to Nan and Popple's house for a weekend of wedding showers!

My sister-in-love Bonnie and I hosted a lingerie shower for Jeni. Bonnie has an amazing sense of decorating and style, and since I only care about food, we were a perfect pair for cohosting a shower :)

Here are some of Bonnie's cute decorations, which she made BY HAND...

What party would be complete without Claire reaching for some food off the table?

"Cupcakes in a Jar"...

Jeni and Chelsea in a fiercely competitive round of "Pull up your pantyhose while wearing oven mitts"...

Another highlight of the weekend was seeing "Baby Justice," who is obviously not such a baby anymore!

Gigi and her nieces...

Love this kid.

Yet another great part of the weekend was being able to spend a little time with "GrandRosa", my sweet grandma, and her husband Gene. What fun it was to see them!

Here we are at the wedding shower that our home church gave. Bean couldn't make it because of work, but we enjoyed seeing his parents and sister!

Nan loving on AK...

2 Peas in a Pod...

Claire making Averi Kate laugh..

I am so blessed!

In a perfect ending to the weekend, we all got back to Nan and Popple's house on Sunday evening, tired and hungry. Of course, no one wanted to make the decision of what we were going to have for supper, so Popple decided to follow standard decision making protocol and flip a dollar bill.

 This is how it landed.

Oh what fun we always have at Popple and Nan's!