Playing Catchup

 Well, now that it's December I figure we should all catch up on what happened in November...

First, we went to NC and saw some wonderful friends. Brent and Amanda (and Ivy and Hayley!) who have moved to Kentucky for seminary, arrived in town for the Christmas tree season, and we came up to visit on the same day! Amanda's sister Sharon was so sweet to let us stay in her house. Claire quickly found that there weren't any "toys" in the house, but leave it to Mando to come with a most unconventional "baby doll" made out of a pair of Sharon's fuzzy socks.

Complete with clothes and a diaper.

I regret that I didn't get more pictures with the Stewarts. Claire and Ivy had a great time playing together (Ivy was so sweet to her even though there is a three year difference in age) and Hayley and AK actually did pretty well together too! Brent's mom had us over for supper one night and then we got to hang out again on Sunday before we left. I miss you so much Amanda! You are so special to me!

That Saturday I ran in the "Conquer the Mountain" half marathon in Franklin. Here I am pre-race with my two cold children.

Waiting for the race to begin...

The kids found a way to pass the time while I was running!

This was about mile 10...

And coming in for the finish!

I actually won first place overall for the females, coming in at 1:45 for the 13.1 miles. This was a much better time than I anticipated, especially since the name "Conquer the Mountain" was not a metaphor. I wish the Coach could have run it with me but his knee was giving him trouble during training so he had to back out. However, I couldn't have asked for a better support team than the Coach and the girls cheering me on!

One other fun thing that we did in Sylva was to visit our favorite park where I used to take Claire (pre-AK).
 

On our trip back, we stopped at Tallulah Falls.

Claire did awesome on the endless staircase! She was a trooper!

The next weekend we had a birthday party for Claire at the park. I didn't get many pictures since I was just trying to enjoy the moments, but Dobby has some on her camera. Maybe I'll get them onto my computer some day, but for now this is what I've got!

And then, of course, Thanksgiving. Oh, what fun we had at Popple and Nan's house. Popple, Nan, Bo, Bonnie, Gigi, Bean, and most of all, Justice and Venus...what more could a girl ask for???

Claire insisted on being in their family picture!

The Pickards...

Oh, how these cousins love one another!

Notice the change in AK's face from this picture to the next, when Venus comes on the porch...

 Poor Venus is not used to quite so much attention...

The McLeods...

And a sibling picture.

...Aaaaannnddd, a more realistic sibling picture.

Justice, this is how we all felt when it was time to go.

When we got home from our Thanksgiving trip, the girls had a little surprise waiting on them...

Ellie the Elf is back!

Trying to figure out what is going on...

And, that's November!

Things that have come out of my mouth lately.

Actual quotations from the past week of my life...

• Don't eat Claire's hair.
  
• Don't put a rubber band on AK's nose. Yes, you can put it on your nose.
  
• Where's the poop? Show me where the poop is.
  
• Who put these tights in the hippo's mouth?
  
• No, Averi Kate, that is not a muffin. That is actually a little boy.
  
• Sit on your bike and keep moving. Do not stop again. We are not out here to have fun.
  
• Yes, I'll pretend to be your mom.
  
• Sure, you can be a robot head for Thanksgiving. 

A Funny 20 Month Old

Have I mentioned how funny this kid is lately?

84,000 times a day, I hear her randomly yelling, "I got it. I got it." Sometimes it makes sense in context and sometimes it absolutely doesn't. The other random phrases that I hear are "I did it!" and "Good boy!"

Oh, and "Tada!"

She says, "Heeeeyyy..." to lots and lots of animals, people, and inaminate objects. She always cocks her head, waves her hand, and her voice goes up 3 octaves when she does it. Sometimes I'll catch her saying it to her food, or to a bug, or to no one at all. But my favorite is when she is losing her temper and pulls her hand back to obviously strike the nearest offender (aka her sister), and I say, "Averi Kate..." in a warning voice, and her countenance changes midstrike, her hand turns from a fist into a wave, her head cocks to one side and her voice softens and goes way up into a "Heeeyyyyy..." Yeah. Good save, AK.

Heeeyyy, pumpkin...

Oh, this is funny too. In trying to teach her the right way to ask for something (instead of repeating the word over and over), apparently I over-dramatized the pitch of the syllables, because her voice once again goes up 3 octaves when she asks for something now.

Every morning as well as after each nap, when I go into AK's room to rescue her from the crib, she hands me every object in her crib - every blanket, baby, sippy cup, stuffed animal - before she gets out. I have to carry all of these, plus the toddler, into the living room. Also, Claire always woke up raring to go from the time her eyes opened, but this is a child who wakes up slowly. After naptime she just wants to cuddle on the couch for a while. But in the morning she just wants oatmeal. So there is that.

Her love for reading is growing. Her favorite books right now are "Horns to Toes and In Between" by Sandra Boynton , "Biscuit is Thankful" by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, and "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown. She loves to read the same book over and over. When I read with both girls, they take turns picking out books, and Claire hates it because every time it's AK's turn she picks the same book as her last turn.

She also loves to dance and play instruments. Every time Spencer or I start to play the guitar or piano, she runs and grabs a shaker or tamborine out of the instrument basket and runs around the room yelling and dancing. Her favorite songs right now are "Wheels on the Bus" and "Are there More Gods than One" by Dana Dirksen.
 

She is never dramatic about anything.

This morning I was washing dishes and heard her sweet voice saying, "Baby tired. Baby tired." I walked over to see her cradling a piece of her blueberry bran muffin.

Here is a picture of her with her "baby."

Then she ate it.

And that is our funny Averi Kate!!!

To My Almost-Four-Year-Old

 The other night I stood hiding in the dining room as you and your Daddy were in the kitchen. He was teaching you how to say "yellow" instead of "lellow". And I heard the transformation in your voice as you worked hard on that first consonant and put it together and sweetie, my heart was silently yelling, "No! Don't leave the lellows behind!" because I knew, I just knew, that you are growing up. And it is beautiful, but it is also inevitable, and that just tears my mama-heart in two a little bit.

You are beautiful. You are my precious gift from God. You melt my heart when you say, "Mommy, guess how many hugs I have inside of me today??? Forty and a half!" Or when you come up and scratch my back and say, "Does that feel good, Mama?" "Mmm hmmm, it does, thank you." And you smile and say, "I thought it would."

I love to listen to you pray. You talk to God on your own now, without being prompted, and I hope you are always so genuine in your prayers as you are right now.

You are learning to think true thoughts. A couple of weeks ago you told me over breakfast, "I was getting a little bit scared last night and I prayed to God to help me not be scared and then I tried to think of good things like parrots." I'm not exactly sure if parrots fit into Philippians 4:8 but I think you're at least headed in the right direction.

You are a great helper and you love to be useful, especially to your Daddy when he is working in the yard or on the car. You are learning how to play the piano and you still love to read (or rather, be read to!) as much as ever. You always, always ask for "just one more story." You love music, you love to sing and dance, and either your daddy or I still play the guitar and sing to you every night.

You are tender and vulnerable. We tried to watch 101 Dalmatians last week as a family but Daddy ended up having to fast forward through about 3/4 of it because of your tears every time the music turned dramatic. You love your sister to death. You are always concerned about her when she is hurt or sad (even though, let's be honest, about 74% of the time you were probably the instigator of her tears.) But still. You are so so sweet and such a good big sister.

Four feels like a long way from three. It feels a lot bigger. But every time I get sentimental about you getting so big, you look at me and smile and say, "Don't worry mommy, I'll always be your little girl."

Yes. Yes, you will.

I love you my sweet four year old!

Fall Festivities

 Oh how I love fall. A couple of weeks ago we went to the Rock Ranch (which was awesome!) where they were having a fall family fun day.

We did a corn maze. that never ended.

 We saw farm animals.

We took a train ride.

The girls rode a cow ride all by themselves!

 
I wasn't too worried about AK falling out.
 

Averi Kate found a pumpkin.

A good time was had by all!

 And then there was Halloween...

I love this picture of these two princesses. I feel like it captures their personalities perfectly.

Happy fall, y'all!