Smiles, Solids, and Sunsets

Again, I am sorry to say that too much time has passed since my last post.  It's been a bit crazy around here.  Avery had a nasty cough that lasted for two months, leading to, shall I say, worse reflux than normal.  (And I thought I had been doing a lot of laundry BEFORE she got sick!)  After three rounds of antibiotics and the purchase of a nebulizer, she's finally better, thankfully.  It amazes me how she smiles through everything!

Alli met her future preschool teacher and is registered to begin in September.  How on earth is she ready for preschool?  I'll never figure this one out, so I'm not going to try.  She officially knows all of her capital letters and most of her lower case letters.  She knows many letter sounds and can "read" books to us; if we drop off while reading a familiar book, she'll pick up where we left off.  She's done this for months now and still quotes books that we read last Halloween and have since put away!  I'll catch her singing songs from the radio, and her favorite singers right now seem to be Adele, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce (specifially, "All the Single Ladies").  I think she'll always be partial to The Killers' "Mr. Brightside," as she's liked that one since she was really little, thanks to Mike, and still requests it. ;)

As promised, I have made up for the absence of posting with the quantity of photos.  You have been warned! 

Avery's sweet 6-month photo.

That's right, I'm a big girl, now!

Alli loves playing with her little sister now.

Smile!

BIG smile!

Smile!

As fast as the wind!

Get Landon, MJ!  Get him!

Wanna know my new trick?

Push-ups!

I'm going to be crawling before you know it!  If only I could stop scooting backwards....

Ice cream bar!

Mmmmmm!

Silly Mia!

Hugs?

What's out there?

I just keep on smiling!

When I ask Alli to smile, this is usually what I get.

"Cranky Bear Face!"

"Crazy Baby!"  (We'll have to capture video of this one for you to truly appreciate it; her entire body shakes in a very controlled way.  It's quite impressive... and a little bit psycho.)

I love my sister!

PROOF!  This is PROOF that they love each other!!!  (I will be whipping this picture out in a few years, I'm sure.)

My first hot fudge sundae!

I'll bet you wish you had a bite!

Seriously, I never stop smiling!

I know many of you have been waiting for another one of our documented photo shoots.  Well, here it is.  I was hoping for one nice photo on St. Patrick's Day (I realized on this day that we really had few options for green clothing), and, well, you can see for yourself how it went.

The Conspirators' Mission:  Don't let Mom get a good photo.

Avo, what are you doing?!

No hair!  No hair!

Avery, get off me!

Now, you stay on YOUR side.

After all that, this is as good as it gets. 

If only I could make a living by smiling!

More push-ups!

The Thinker.

A girl can't have too many purses.

Finally, solid food!  (Or rice cereal.)  We decided to wait until Avery felt better before introducing solids.

Hey, this is kind of cool.

Wait a minute.

Nope, NOT cool,

I may not like it, but I'm gonna keep smiling!

More?  Really?

Tortured child.

Why does everyone laugh at my hair?  I don't get it.

One serious gamer.

What do you think, a future doctor?  I didn't think so.

Mia, meet window.

We've had some pretty amazing weather this month.  We haven't typically been used to much sunshine in March, but Anacortes proves to pull through, once again. 

These guys landed in the tree outside our house while terrorizing an intruding pest.

Gee, it's a shame we don't take enough pictures around here....