Santa Claus!

Ho! Ho! Ho! We recently went to visit Santa (twice! - first time was not a success. I didn't get it, but now I do!). I sat on his lap and told him what I want for Christmas, and Mommy and Daddy said if I am a good boy that Santa will bring what I asked for on Christmas night! I had to give him Grandma's address, though, because we'll be in Des Moines. I don't really know what this whole Santa thing is about, and how it relates to Jesus' birthday (because Santa did not come on Berlin's birthday), but I think I will figure it all out. Berlin did not like Santa at all (can you tell?), so maybe that's why he didn't visit her on her birthday. I told Santa to give her a break, that she's a good baby, so he'll bring her a gift, too. Maybe next year she will stop being afraid of Santa. He's just a jolly man in red!

Merry Christmas!
Aves

B's Birthday

Yum! Cake!

Aves loves cake, too!

Explaining to Mommy that it's his birthday.

I do not like birthday hats.

Happy Birthday Berlin!

Hi there! I had my first birthday party a few weeks ago! It was so much fun! We went to this pizza place called Nashville Pizza Co, and celebrated with friends. My future prom date, Dashton and his big brother, Camden were there, my buddy Noah, and my old daycare teacher, Ms. Janelle and her kiddos. Of course, their parents were there, too, this was a chaperoned party. My big brother, Aves, kept saying it was his birthday, but my name was on the cake! It was yummy! My first taste of chocolate was a big success. I want more! I had such a sugar high, I looked drunk. Drunk on sugar!! Mommy and Dada were so excited for me, but Mama got all emotional at home. She said I am growing up too fast. Can't help myself. There's so many fun things to do now that I am a toddler!

Well, I am sorry if I missed you at my party, but I'll see ya at Christmas!
Big hugs and kisses,
Berlin

Happy Birthday Berlin!

"On the day you were born the Moon pulled on the ocean below, and wave by wave, a rising tide washed the beaches clean for your footprints....."

We created a special montage to celebrate Berlin's first year on Earth. Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0To_TgwXt4
You can also view it by clicking on Berlin's 1st Birthday in the Birthdays box to the right.

Dancing Queen

Growing, Growing, Growing!

So cute and sweet

Cuddling up on the coach

My own gymnastics class

Eat, eat, eat!

Time out

Hi everyone! I thought I'd give you an update on what I've been up to lately. I am a growing boy! The other night I ate a chicken breast, 7 fish stix, vegies, a fruit cup, bread, and half an English muffin with pumpkin. I was hungry! For breakfast, I eat as many nutragrain bars as I can get my hands on, and I chug down my milk. And my pants are at least an inch too short. Of course, they fit perfect in the waist now. That's pretty typical for me.

I'm doing really well at daycare! My Mommy went to parent/teacher conferences a few weeks back. I'm reciting my ABC's, singing songs and nursery rhymes, and counting with my fingers (in English and Spanish). I'm also very friendly. I'm friends with almost everyone, and they say I'm the alpha of my peer group. What can I say? I'm cool!

My potty training is improving, too. I nap with no pull up everyday, and am using the big boy potty full time. I am also starting to sleep overnight with no pull up. I'm 50/50 on overnights, but ya gotta start somewhere!

I'm just a typical 2 year old, loving life! Hope you are doing well, too.
Love,
The Aves

Happy Halloween Spookies!

Berlin and Noah

Avery's first house

Gang of characters

B and Dash

NEMO!

Lil Lady Bug

Daddy was an army man

Hi everyone! We had a great Halloween! How bout you? On Friday, daycare had a party to celebrate. We decorated cookies, had a costume parade, carved pumpkins, read books to our families, and more! It was fun. On Halloween, we went over to my buddy, Gavin's house for trick or treating! Gavin and I ran to every house and scored some candy! I LOVE candy! Berlin even got in on the action. She was very determined to walk up to the houses and pick out candy. She did great! She is walking so well, it's amazing she is only 11 months old! Next year we will be running house to house! Can't wait, cuz my candy is almost gone :(

I'll post again soon!
Love,
Avery

More Walking!

Here I am walking more. I know the video is a little dark, but it's worth watching to the end, I promise. I have improved so much! This video was shot 2 days ago, and I've even improved since then. I love walking!! I can't stop doing it, I even am trying to stay up later at night so I can walk, walk, walk!

Enjoy!
Love,
Berlin

Pumpkin Patches

The swing was one of my favorites

Berlin calls the chickens

The goat sucked on my finger! It tickled.

CHEESE!

Pumpkin!

Mmmmm, coke!

I did it! I went through the tunnel.

Tractors are fun.

Riding in style

Hey everyone! The past couple of weekends have been very busy for us. We went to 2 pumpkin farms!! The first was Gentry Farms, here in Franklin. It was BIG! There was lots to do, including a corn maze, petting zoo, hay ride, a really cool tractor playground, and my favorite, the tire swing! We had a great time! Last weekend, we went to Walden Farms. It was a bit further away, but still fun. They had a lot of the same stuff, but I still had a good time! We got pumpkins, too, and now have a little mini pumpkin patch at our home.

Berlin had a great time, too. She flirted with her future prom date, Dash (who just turned 1, time flies!) and walked around a lot. She has really figured out this walking thing! She used to insist Mommy or Daddy hold her hand all the time, but now she does it on her own. She walks all around our house. Everytime she takes off, she says "Bye bye!" Where's she going?? Everywhere now!

Hope you enjoy our pictures at the pumpkin patches!
Love,
Aves

Ms. Walky Walk

Here's a little taste of me walking! This video was taken a few days ago, and I have improved already. There's a couple of things that keep me a little wobbly... 1. I want to run! I don't care about the order of things :) and 2. I get so excited I lose my balance! When I calm down, I walk really well. Just last night I walked all the way from my room into my brother's room all by myself. My Mommy wishes she had her camera ready, but by the time she got it, I was tired and wanted to go to bed. I'm sure she'll catch me again. It's not like I'm gonna stop!

Chase ya later!
Berlin

Growing Up Too Fast!

Hellllllllooooooo! I have some exciting news! I took my first two steps a few days ago! It was pretty cool. Mommy was there, and couldn't quite believe what she was seeing, so I did it again the next day! Sure enough, I'm on my way to walking! My parents are a little shell shocked. I'm only 10 months old, and they thought they would have a few more months of crawling before I would walk. No way! My life long dream is to chase my brother, and I am two steps closer (HA!). I also finally broke in my first two teeth on the bottom. I wasn't very crabby either. I'm so easy, I just go with the flow. I'm also eating table food most of the time, and I'm almost weened off the bottle. I'm becoming a toddler (way too fast, according to my parents!). I'm having fun, and I can't wait until I can finally run after Avery! It won't be long now.

Aves is also doing well. My parents finally figured out the way to get Avery to poop in the potty is through chocolate. Hey, whatever works! He's also a little songbird, sings all the time! I love it and dance along with him. He's become a little bit of a leader at school. His friends like to do everything he does, and he has become a very good example! His teachers are so proud of him!

We are going to Iowa this weekend to Aunt Greta's wedding. We are excited! We get to be the ring bearer and flower girl and we will have a new uncle! We can't wait to welcome Kevin to our family! Hope to see you there. Maybe I'll show you how I walk.

Love, Berlin

Tubby Tunes

Yes, NO!! Maybe

Whatcha Been Up To??

My new adventure... table food!

Rain boots are cool!

My new attitude :)

Hanging out in our wagon

Playing cars with Deedah

Pre-haircut

This is how I sleep

My haircut matches Daddy!

Petting a duck at daycare

The fridge is fun!

Helping Deedah bath Avery

My first haircut!

Bye bye mullet!

It's been over a month since we've posted! So sorry, time has gotten away from us! Lots has been going on. Beebin got her first haircut by the lovely and talented Katie Jo. She had a bit of a mullet, but now her hair is all even and growing in really quickly! She will need another haircut soon! Berlin has been doing so much so fast! She's mastered the art of crawling and pulling up, and now she is starting to cruise. She's also waving bye bye, saying no (I gotta story about that), and clapping! You should hear her say no. It's very cute. I'm sure it will lose it's luster in a few months, but for now, everyone is enjoying hearing my little sister's raspy voice. She's not nearly as loud as I am, but she's still mighty. Okay, here's the story.... Berlin LOVES to play in the fridge! I don't blame her, I used to love it, too. One day, she was playing away when Deedah asked her if she would get out of the fridge. She shook her head no. Deedah thought it was funny, but asked her again, "Berlin, can you get out of the fridge?" She promptly said, "Nooooooooooooo!" Deedah laughed. He couldn't believe she said it in the right context. Ha! Soon it's all she will say, just you wait Deedah!

I have been doing well, too. I moved up to the 2 1/2 year room at daycare (I'm 2 1/2, can you believe it!!!). All my friends went with me, including Kingston (we're buddies!) and Preston, so that made the transition much easier! I'm kinda the ring leader. Everyone now wants to wear underwear like me, so one day, we all did! I'm sure that was fun for my teachers. I'm making great strides in potty training. My accidents are usually just poops (pooping is hard!), and I'm starting to nap without a pull up. I still sleep with one at night, but I'm still young, and this is a process (or so my parents tell me). They are very proud of me. I'm also teething :( I'm getting my second year molars and they hurt!! I've been handling as well as expected, and my parents are trying to help me ease the pain a bit (tylenol is my friend). I've learned my ABC's and will sing them with you, if you ask nicely. I am also learning to count on my fingers. Ask me how old I am, and I will tell you! I can also tell you that I have brown eyes, Mama has green eyes, Deedah has blue eyes, and Berlin has brown eyes. Apparently green and blue make brown!

Well, that's all for now. I will try to post more often. We miss you and can't wait to see ya'll soon!

Love, Avery

Life Moves Pretty Fast...

Here I am, crawling and pulling up. I am just doing one thing after another! I am a very motivated girl and will not be satisfied until I fulfill my lifelong dream of chasing after my brother! It won't be long.

Next step, driving.....

Talk to you soon!
Berlin

Hellllllloooooooooooo!!!

Bathing together!

I made this hat at daycare!

My future prom date, Dash.

Cute as a button

Playing with grandpa

Deedah loves to play with the camera

More fun with grandpa

Hanging out

Running!!

Hi!! How's it going?? Sorry it's been so long since our last post. Mama started her new job and has been busy, busy, busy. That means we started at our new daycare! It is going really well. Avery cried the first couple of days, but got over it really quickly. He now asks to go play at daycare everyday and is making new friends! As it turns out, a couple that our parents met a few weeks ago send their sons to our daycare, and Kingston is in Avery's class with him. It was nice to know someone already. Berlin is just chill and fits in everywhere. Her teachers love her, and think she is the best baby ever (which she is!) She's not napping that great with all the noise of the other babies, but she'll adjust. She still sleeps through the night, so it's not too big of an issue right now.

Exciting news! Berlin is starting to crawl!! She is still in the beginning stages and a little clumsy, but the girl can get herself where she wants to go! Avery loves that she's mobile, but not thrilled when Berlin decides to play with his toys.

Grandpa came to visit us last weekend! We were so excited to see him!! Avery, especially, was his little buddy and dragged Grandpa everywhere to play with him. We went on a little adventure to Centennial Park in Nashville. It has a replica of the Parthenon there. We had a great time running around, playing with the columns. We didn't even mind when it started to rain. It was so good to see Grandpa, and we hope to see him again soon!

We'll try to post more often! Trying to adjust to our new schedule, ya know.
Love,
Avery and Berlin