The Lynch Family

My Poor, Neglected Blog.....

2010-12-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

Seasons greetings to everyone! I have been terrible about updating my blog lately. There is really no reason for this horrid neglect, other than I am a single parent right now. Bruce is deployed to Qatar for six months. He has been gone almost two months and will be returning in early May. We have been visiting my family in Mobile, AL for a while now. We arrived on November 22nd and we will be flying back to AK on January 29th. I have a good many pictures on my camera that I will share soon. For now, here are just a few shots from Christmas.

Averie and Hailey were given play high heels for Christmas. Here is Hailey with Andrew and Austin. Notice Andrew and Austin are sporting the high heels!!

The crew sitting at the kitchen table playing with Austins new train set! These boys LOVE trains!!!!

Andrew and Averie looking super cute on Christmas Eve!!

Potty Training....

2010-09-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

So.....potty training. People say that I will be really glad when they are both potty trained. Really? Anyway, I decided to train them one at a time. Averie is first. She is actually doing really well. We started this past Monday and she has been in a pull-up or real underwear all week. She doesn't mind the potty at all. Sometimes she likes to read a book or hold her favorite stuffed toy. Yesterday she had been playing with my sunglasses and when it was time for her to try to potty she just took them with her. I know that she is going to kill me one day, but this picture is priceless!! She had a successful trip to the potty and looked good while she was sitting there!

Lil' Kickers

2010-09-16T15:09:00.001-07:00

Bruce is going to be deploying to Afghanistan in late October. He is also traveling in September and early October for various training courses in preparation for deployment. I decided that since we were going to be on our own for a while that we needed to be busy. We are doing several activities this fall, but the most fun is the Lil' Kickers program. It is "soccer" for little people. They start at 18 months! The purpose is to work on listening skills, motor skills, following directions, and social skills. They don't play actual games. Andrew and Averie seem to really like it and I get to laugh a lot because it's sooooo hilarious! Averie LOVES her uniform. I even had to let her sleep in it one time because she would not take it off!! Here are a few pictures from our first "soccer game". Enjoy!

Destination.......Dallas

2010-09-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

We traveled to Dallas, TX to visit Bruce's family over Labor Day weekend. Traveling with TWO two year olds in a plane for seven hours is quite an adventure. Coming home was much more difficult, but we made it! My favorite day on our trip was the day we went to Fort Worth, Tx. I was born in Fort Worth but I don't remember living there. So this was the first time I had visited there since I was born. We went to the Historic Stockyards to watch the cattle drive and eat some good BBQ. There is no such thing as good BBQ in Alaska. Averie and Andrew had a blast watching the cows, riding the little rides, and visiting the petting zoo. We also road down to the seminary where my dad attended. I was able to fine the apartments that we lived in when I was born. We also drove by the hospital where I was born. It was kind of cool to see all of that. We had a nice time in Texas, but I was glad to get home.

Andrew did not like sitting on the cow!

The other thing that Andrew and Averie love about Dallas is getting to hang out with Granny. She had lots of books and they read together for hours while we were there.

Camping at the Matanuska Glacier

2010-07-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend we traveled north about 90 miles to Glacier View, AK. We camped at a place called Grandview RV Park. The weather was great and we had a great time. This area surrounds the Matanuska Glacier. This is a "valley" glacier and it is HUGE!! We have hiking backpacks for Averie and Andrew that we took with us so that we could go hiking. You can drive right down to the glacier and then walk, or hike, right out onto the ice. SO COOL!!!

Bruce hiking on the glacier.

My foot on glacier ice!!

A nice hiker offered to take our picture at the end of the hike. We were all out on the glacier together. Good times!!

Visitors from Alabama....

2010-07-10T14:22:00.001-07:00

My parents and my grandmother came to Alaska on June 29th and left on July 9th. We packed in tons of sightseeing while they were here. We went to Whittier, Seward, Anchorage, and Wasilla during their visit. Andrew and Averie seem to be crazy about their "Gram" and "HeyDaddy". Andrew especially loved "HeyDaddy". They took tons of pictures while they were here, so there is no way that I can post them all. Here are a few of my favorites.

This is a picture of me, Bruce, Andrew, and Averie hiking out to Exit Glacier. Andrew is a GREAT hiker. He loved it!!

Averie couldn't quite make it all the way out to the glacier, so Gram stayed back with her while we finished the hike.

I think Bruce is ready to be done with this hike and Averie's crying. Haha

Andrew and Averie eating a cupcake at the Saturday Market in downtown Anchorage.

These next two pictures are of me and mom and me and dad on the wildlife boat tour that we took in Seward, AK. It was a really great excursion!

Singing....well sort of....

2010-06-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

Camping...

2010-06-07T14:07:00.001-07:00

We took the camper out for a test spin on Memorial Day weekend. I was nervous because Averie and Andrew had never slept in a bed that was not a crib or a pack-n-play. They slept in the double bed in the back of the camper and they did GREAT! They had a hard time going to sleep, of course, but once they were asleep, they slept all night. This first photo of them sliding together at the playground.

This picture is of Andrew and Bruce having breakfast at the table in the camper.

This picture was taken outside, under the awning of the camper. We were just sitting outside relaxing and they started to laugh at each other. VERY CUTE!

Precious time....

2010-05-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

I know that it does not look like night time, but this picture was taken at about 8:00 pm. I had been sitting on the floor playing with them and I got tired of the floor so I hopped up in to Averie's mini chair. Those are really comfy, by the way. Over the course of the next few minutes they both crawled up into my lap. They crawl, climb, roll, and slobber on me all day. Sometimes I get really frustrated with them, but at night I am the only one that will do. They don't want anything to do with their daddy or anybody else for that matter. At night, I am on duty no matter what, and I love it!!

Warm days....yeah!!!

2010-05-22T22:46:00.001-07:00

Our weather has warmed up quite a bit. Andrew and Averie want to be outside every minute that they are awake. I feel like we have been set free from the snow and harsh winter. When it is sunny outside there is no place on earth more beautiful than Alaska. We are really enjoying being able to go outside and play. I took this picture on one of our walks the other day. I know that she is my child, but I think she is the cutest little girl...hehe!!

Bright nights....early mornings....

2010-05-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

Way out here in Alaska we have really short days in the winter and really long days in the summer. Right now we are having days that last about eighteen hours of daylight. When we arrived here last year it was the same way, but the babies didn't seem to have any trouble with the long days. This year, however, we are having lots of trouble. I can't really blame them because the light really tricks you. Really sunny days are harder because the babies get sun in their rooms until about 9:00 pm. I have black out shades on their windows and that helps a TON, but it doesn't make the room completely dark. Tonight we attempted to put them to bed about 8:00 pm. As you can see in the first picture, Andrew was having none of that. This is him standing, looking out of the window at 9:20 pm. It is still really bright outside.

I took this picture a few days ago at 11 pm.

The sun starts coming up by 5:00 am. Andrew is already an early riser and because of the long days he sometimes will get up really early. On this particular day he was awake and ready to party at 5:45 am. I took this picture of him sleeping in his car seat at 11 am. He didn't make it to lunch. He was really tired and out of it the entire day. I usually try to get him to go back to sleep but that day he just wasn't having it!!

Cookie Monster

2010-05-22T22:29:00.001-07:00

Andrew has a bad sweet tooth. I can already tell that he is going to be a picky eater like me. For those of you that know me, you know that is really bad. Anytime I ask him if he is hungry he looks at me and does the sign for "cookie". He would live on cookies if I would let him. Sometimes he might only eat a little bit of his main meal and then start asking for cookies. It is times like this when I regret trying to teach him to talk!! Anyway, the other day I accidentally left the cookies out on the table. Before I knew it, he was up in the chair and opening up the package. I wanted to tell him NO, but he was so cute that I just took his picture. As you can see, he has a cookie in his hand as he is going for another one. I guess it's more fun to have two cookies so that both hands are occupied.

Birthday Blog!

2010-05-11T21:28:00.001-07:00

All I asked for was a cake. I wanted a real birthday cake ordered from a bakery with my name on it. Bruce came through with a lovely cake with red roses. It tastes really good as well. The babies love cake!!

However, I got a really big present. It was not for my birthday, but we did pick it up today. We have been talking about getting a camper since we found out that we were moving to AK. All of the places that you can travel too around here are tourist kind of places and it is very expensive to stay in a hotel. We are not sure how it will be to "camp" with the babies, but they are very good sleepers and I am just going to be optimistic. Worse case would be that we don't use it all that much and we sell it. People around here are always looking to buy campers like this one. I am going to start working on getting the camper stocked ASAP. We are very excited!
Just to brag on myself a little, I pulled it home from all the way across town and I backed it in myself. If my dad is "King of the Road", I am definitely the "Queen"!!

Baby Yoga

2010-05-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

We went to the "Double Cruisers" playgroup at Providence Hospital. We have only been to this a couple of times, but Averie and Andrew really seem to enjoy themselves. Anyway, a lady came in while the kids were playing and started to do baby yoga with them. I have never laughed so hard in my life. At first Averie and Andrew didn't know what to make of this activity. Then Andrew started to participate. The first picture is Andrew doing the "Cat" pose. He couldn't quite arch his back correctly, but he sure was trying.

This is Andrew's version of "downward dog". SO FUNNY!

Andrew as a "tree". I'm telling you that I was on the floor laughing. They were so cute!

Breathing treatment entertainment....

2010-04-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

Andrew and Averie have both had a little bit of a snotty nose. Andrew nose is a little better, but he sounds a little wheezy so I decided to give him a breathing treatment. He was a little antsy during his treatment, so I started to try to entertain him. At first I was holding his hands, but then he decided he could direct the "band" all by himself. To funny!

Star Wars

2010-04-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

First of all, I apologize for these pictures being a little blurry. Today, we went to the Anchorage Museum to see the Star Wars exhibit. We have been meaning to go for a while and finally got down there today. It was very interesting. There were lots of costumes and robots and starships on display for all to see. I could tell you the movie that the costume belonged to before I read the display details. Pretty sad, I know, but I do love Star Wars. Anyway, the babies rode in their stroller for most of the trip, but we did let them out for a little while. In this first picture they are sitting at a display that allowed you to build your own robots. While they were not great at building robots, they were GREAT at pushing the buttons.

Andrew LOVED wielding the Light Saber. It was by far his most favorite moment of the outing. This trip was more for mom and dad. Andrew and Averie were just along for the ride.

Averie and the Storm Trooper. Sorry it's so dark :(

Andrew did not like the Storm Trooper. He burst into tears the second he started walking toward us. I tried to make it better by shaking his hand, but Andrew wasn't having any part of it! It was kind of funny.

Where is Your Button?

2010-04-10T20:17:00.000-07:00

Easter 2010

2010-04-09T00:44:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter in Alaska this year. I played my bassoon in a small instrumental ensemble at the church we have been attending. Easter was very low key for us. However, Andrew and Averie had fabulous clothes courtesy of my mom. She made every stitch that they wore. I am so grateful for her abilities and willingness to sew for Andrew and Averie.

Little Mamma

2010-03-12T22:11:00.001-08:00

Averie is quite the little mother. Anytime that we have our friend Hunter over, she wants to be right with him the entire time. She will go up to him and hug him and give him "pat, pat, pats". She is always very concerned when he cries and she does her best to keep in entertained. These first two pictures are of them sitting on the couch together. She is not big enough to climb up by herself, so she asked me to help her. They sat like this for about 15 minutes. It was very cute.

This was the night that Averie just took over all babysitting duties. I was eating super with Bruce, so she just took it upon herself to entertain Hunter in his bouncy seat. She would reach out to him and try to get him to come see her and then she would push on the bouncy seat to keep him from crying. I had to help her bounce him just a little. Hunter was loving it. He would just smile and coo at Averie. She is something else!

Sweet Faces

2010-03-08T22:44:00.001-08:00

Andrew as discovered the joy of spitting. This is his new spitting face. He is just the sweetest little boy. He loves his mommy and boy does his mommy love him!

This is a sweet smile from my sweet girl. She is just the cutest little girl. Sometimes she has a very big attitude, but I know she gets it from me. I know that is hard to believe. She does have one of the sweetest smiles I have ever seen.

Fur Rondy

2010-03-08T22:37:00.001-08:00

Fur Rondy is the festival/carnival that takes place in downtown Anchorage the week leading up to the start of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The night we went down there was the night they show off fireworks. My husband LOVES fireworks so I knew he was going to make us go. We ended up having a good time, but it was really cold. The first picture is Bruce and Andrew coming down the super slide.

My little snow angel. She can't walk in all her winter gear. It's kind of funny!

Andrew and Averie on their first carnival ride. They did great!

Sea Life Cener

2010-03-08T22:24:00.001-08:00

Bruce is currently on a week long vacation. We decided to take a mini-vacate to the Kenai Peninsula for a couple of days. There are many places to visit, but we went to a town called Seward, Alaska. We ended up in a blizzard, but we made the best of our visit. We had some really good food and had a great time with the babies at the Sea Life Center. This is primarily a place where research is conducted. However, they do have some really cool things to see and read about. The place was practically empty the day that we visited. It was great because Andrew and Averie could just run around and enjoy themselves. There were two really cool animals that we loved getting to see. One tank had three Harbor Seals and the other big tank had a 2300 pound sea lion. I can't remember his name, but he was HUGE!!! The first picture is of me and the babies watching the sea lion swim by.

This is Andrew looking up at the Sea Lion. This picture shows how big this animal is.

This is Averie and her friend the Harbor Seal. There were three of them and they would just swim right up to her while she was standing there.

The next two pictures are of the little boat they had on display for kids to climb in and pretend to drive.

Squatting and that silly pink rag.....

2010-02-18T00:25:00.000-08:00

They crack me up! Averie loves to play the "Squat Game" and for whatever reason, Andrew would carry that pink rag around all day if I would let him. It can't be a blue, or yellow, or any other color rag. I MUST be the pink one. Who knows? Enjoy the video!

Blaaaaaahhhhhh.....

2010-02-06T22:23:00.001-08:00

This is how I feel today. Blah....blah...blah. Averie is great at making the "blah" face. I love it!

Cute Hair

2010-02-06T22:13:00.001-08:00

Averie has tons of HAIR!! Her hair is straight as a board and fine, just like mine. Every other day, after her bath, I take her into my bathroom, sit her up on the vanity, and blow her hair dry with a rolling brush. The funny thing about all of this is that Averie LOVES to have her hair done. Usually when we go out I put some kind of bow in her hair. Lately we have been doing pig tails. People that see us out always ask me how I get her to let me do her hair. Averie's hair is a big part of our daily life. It has a mind of its own and, therefore, is a part of our daily schedule.

This picture was taken right after her bath and blow dry.

Sing-a-Long

2010-02-06T22:06:00.001-08:00

Last Monday I took Averie and Andrew to the Alaska Zoo for "Sing-a-Long at the Zoo". The program is held in the greenhouse which located in the middle of the zoo. I did not know that we would have to HIKE through the zoo to get to the greenhouse because I had never been there before. My stroller is not that great in the snow, therefore, I was really tired after pushing through the zoo. There were some moms that put their kids in a sled to get back there. I really think that I would do that next time. Anyway, there was a lady there that sang and played the guitar and they also had a table of percussion instruments for the kids to use. My kids LOVED the instruments. I had to keep a close watch on Averie because she would go up to other kids and take their instruments. I had a hard time getting Andrew to give back the drum when the program is over. The zoo is about 30 min. from our house, so this may just be a once-a-month activity, but they really seemed to have fun.

On My OWN....

2010-02-04T22:21:00.001-08:00

Andrew LOVES the computer. Has learned how to climb up to the computer, but he does not know what he is doing. However, he really pretends like he does. He moves the mouse around and pushes keys on the keyboard and it looks like he is just working away. It's really cute and he really is trying to be so independent.

Bruce and his buddies.....

2010-02-04T22:16:00.001-08:00

Bruce was in Orlando, FL to take the oral board examination on Jan. 26. Two of his fellow graduates from University of Tennessee Chattanooga medical residency program were down there as well to take the exam. Hallelujah, they all passed!!!

Bruce Lynch and Mike Fahr

Bruce Lynch and Will Havron

Havron and Fahr

Peek-a-Boo

2010-02-04T22:09:00.000-08:00

Andrew and Averie love to play peek-a-boo in Andrew's closet. Here are a couple of videos of them playing before bedtime.

Same day SURGERY!

2010-02-04T22:04:00.001-08:00

Andrew and Averie both had tubes put in their ears on January 17, 2010. Here are a few photos that we took while we were waiting for them to have the very short procedure. They were a hoot in the waiting area. Andrew was not really enjoying himself. He cried bad every time they came to do anything with him. Averie, however, was a rock star. Nothing bothered her and she was up for whatever they did. It is very interesting how totally different they are as individuals.

Starting Early....

2010-01-15T23:25:00.000-08:00

Averie and Andrew are addicted to a web site that teaches children the alphabet. The website is www.starfall.com. You click on the link to the ABC's and off you go. A & A LOVE working on their alphabet on the computer. They are adding new words to their tiny vocabularies every day. I seriously believe they will be ready to enter college by their 2nd birthday. Yes, Bruce is wearing a Snuggie!

Ice Skating

2010-01-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

Every school in Alaska has an outdoor ice skating rink. This afternoon we went to the middle school for some outdoor fun. We have been hold up in the house because Andrew and Averie have been sick. However, now that they are better, and afternoon outside is just what we needed. Bruce has not bought any skates yet, but I found some on sale shortly after we moved here. Hopefully we will find him some soon! Andrew and Averie loved it when I pushed them in the stroller. I think they liked going fast.

The first video is of me pushing them while skating. They seemed to really like it. The second video is just of them walking around on the snow. Andrew loves to walk in it, but Averie does not. As soon as Bruce took her out of the stroller she started screaming and did not stop screaming until we put her in the car. The last video is Andrew walking out on the ice. He loved it. I thought he was moving pretty fast! Notice how they look like the Michelin Tire Man in their snow suits. Thanks Aunt Mary Jo, we love them!!

Movie Time and a Cute Dress

2010-01-04T22:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know that children should have limited use of the television when they are this young. However, they love to watch this particular video of cute creatures singing nursery rhymes. The video is about 25 minutes long and they love it!! I know it's bad, but it's also GREAT......for me! I can get a few household things accomplished and maybe use the bathroom. This picture was taken today when they were watching their movie, sitting in their new chairs and being sooooo still. They were also looking cute!

I know this is not a great picture of the dress, but I am including it because I made the dress! Well, my mom sewed the button holes, but I did the rest. The front has a little pocket, with an embroidered cell phone it it. Her name is on the bottom of the design. She wore it to the audiologist today and she new she was looking cute!

Christmas Morning....with sick babies.....

2009-12-25T23:45:00.000-08:00

Averie and Andrew had a great Christmas morning. However, they both have really snotty noses, so forgive the "shiny" noses in the pictures.

Averie sitting in her new chair reading a book. She did not want to be disturbed.

Santa 2009

2009-12-24T23:36:00.001-08:00

Santa found us in Alaska! Whew, we were worried! I know that Andrew and Averie will not remember this visit from Santa, but we sure had fun setting it all up for them. If you can't tell, they are getting trikes, a slide, a play kitchen, a shopping cart, and overstuffed chairs from PBKids. It is all really cute and I can't wait to see their little faces in the morning.

Happy on Christmas Eve!

2009-12-24T23:32:00.001-08:00

Andrew and Averie have never been interested in the camera, but for some reason they were tonight. I got the camera out to take a few pictures on Christmas Eve. They just grinned and carried on the whole time. I thought I would share a couple of their precious smiles with you.

Trimming the Tree

2009-12-01T00:57:00.001-08:00

Johnna and Jeremy Stafford came to visit us for Thanksgiving. While they were here Johnna wanted to help me get my Christmas stuff up. I needed a new tree this year because I donated my tree from last year to my friend Farah. We went to Sam's and they only had ONE tree left. It was a twelve foot, pre-lit artificial tree. However, it was "orange tagged" because the bottom strands of lights were not working. This tree was marked down from $273 to $80. We just couldn't pass it up. Johnna, who is "Her Highest Majesty of ALL things Christmas and Electrical Wiring", is confident that she will be able to get the lights to work, so we bought it. It did take her a little while, and I am not sure that I will be able to figure it out next year, but the lights work! The first picture is of the tree right after all the lights came on.

Andrew helping.

Averie helping.

All finished! It is a really beautiful tree. I am so proud of it, and Johnna taught me how to make bows! She made the bow on the top of the tree, but I made some that are hanging on the banister. I will put pictures up of those later.

First Winter Snow....

2009-11-10T00:06:00.001-08:00

Well, it finally snowed! We took the babies out after their nap and at first it they were not loving it. However, as you will see, they came around. It was about 23 degrees and absolutely beautiful outside. The sled was Averie's favorite and Andrew likes to just walk around outside. The sled was not for him. However, we stayed out for about an hour and they did really well.

Sledding queen.

These children have to earn their keep. Averie will be shoveling snow this winter.

Picture taken off the back deck.....

Where is the road?

Ready for Thanksgiving

2009-11-09T23:40:00.000-08:00

My mom sent the babies some really cute duds for Thanksgiving. I couldn't wait for them to wear these outfits, so they wore them to church yesterday. I don't think that clothes mean anything to Andrew, but I really think that Averie new she was cute. She was really sassy all day! So CUTE!!! Thanks MOM!

Winterized Jazz

2009-11-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, my dog hates me now because I bought her some winter gear and she doesn't like it one bit. We don't have any snow yet, but I wanted her to be prepared because we have had a couple of morning this past week that were in the single digits. Crazy cold! Anyway, so she didn't mind the coat as much as she minds the booties.

Dog snow booties!! Who knew.

Averie wanted to try them on......

Then she wanted them off. So funny!

Tuesday Playgroup

2009-11-04T21:00:00.000-08:00

There is a preschool play group every Tuesday morning from 9:00 am to 11 am at Birchwood Church, which is about ten minutes away from us. They have a big gym and tons of toys for the kids to play with. I have been taking A & A for about four weeks now and this past week I remembered the camera so that I could take some pictures of them playing. They do really well, I must say. Andrew has learned to climb up the slide and come down all by himself and Averie enjoys walking all over the place and playing with the push toys.

Motorcycle Man

"I slid down and I can't get up"

Brother pushing sister.....how cute!

Cheese faces!

Andrew LOVES to slide. He is quite good at it!

So much room to practice walking. The big gym has been great for Averie!

Do NOT cut up my pizza mom!

2009-11-03T21:34:00.001-08:00

Yes, my children eating whole pieces of pizza. They don't want me to cut it up, they just want to hold it themselves and eat it. They are growing up so fast and I don't like it one bit!

Cutest Backside Ever

2009-11-03T21:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, so these first two pictures are of her front side. Averie has been super clingy lately and this was a day that she was actually in a good mood and playing in the house. She even smiled for the camera.

However, these next two pics of her backside are my favorite. The pictures don't really do her justice. She is walking all over the place now and it is so cute because she is sooooo little. Her little booty is just so cute when she is toddling around. Oh, by the way, those are 6-12 month size pants she is wearing.

Itsy Bitsy Spiders

2009-10-31T15:28:00.001-07:00

As you all know, my mom sends me the cutest stuff for Andrew and Averie to wear. Last year, Andrew wore a shirt with Frankenstein on the front and Averie's shirt had a cute little witch on the front. This year they match. Mom has this cute spider applique for a boy and a girl. So I am officially calling them my "Itsy Bitsy Spiders" for Halloween this year. We will not be going out to trick-or-treat this year because is is only going to get up to 28 degrees today, but they are still cute. Oh, and the song "The Itsy Bitsty Spider", is their favorite song right now. So cute!

Climbing...

2009-10-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

I am afraid to report that Andrew is on the verge of a major climbing phase. His new favorite thing is to pull out the drawers in the bottom of the coffee table and stand in them. He is trying very hard to hike his leg up onto the coffee table to get on top of it, but he is not quite tall enough. I give him another week, and we will be in major trouble!

Big Smiles

2009-10-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

This is simply a couple of good pictures with great smiles. Enjoy!

Rollin' on Studs

2009-10-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this is interesting or not, but I thought I would show you all a picture of my new studded tires. I decided to get them so that I would not slide all over the roads during the winter up here in Alaska. On account of the fact that I am from Alabama, I have not driven in much snow. They are not much different to drive on, but they are really loud. You can here them coming from a couple blocks away. Anyway, there you go, studded tires!

Averie's Tricks!

2009-10-31T15:13:00.001-07:00

My mom made these pajamas for Averie and while I was taking pictures of her in the outfit, she did a couple of her best tricks. In this first picture she is responding to the question, "How old are you, Averie?" She sticks her little finger up in the air and it is just the cutest thing.

In this pictures she is signaling a touchdown. Now, if I can just teach her to say ROLL TIDE, we will be in good shape.
She is not doing tricks in these last two pictures. She is just a tired baby that wishes her mom would quit taking pictures so that she can go to bed!

My little Frankenstein

2009-09-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

Averie 16 months old and still does not quite weigh 20 pounds. She is my little angel. We took this video of her trying to walk tonight. She is so close to walking, but she has to have a lot of praise to get the courage up to let go and walk. She will get it soon though. I thought this video was just too cute not to share. Please excuse my high pitch voice. Sometimes you don't realize how you sound until you hear it on video.

Outdoor fun!

2009-09-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

The weather has been wonderful for most of the month of September. Low's in the 40's and highs in the 60's was the norm for most of the month. However, this week the weather has drastically changed. Low's in the low 30's and highs in the 40's, rainy and very miserable. Also the "termination dust" is racing down the mountains, therefore, we will have snow on the ground before long. Actually,the weather people are predicting a mixture of rain and snow for Monday. However, before the weather turned bad, we had tons of fun walking around in the neighborhood, playing at the playground and just being outside. Here are some of our pictures from our days of outdoor fun.

Averie loves to slide. She just grins and laughs and wants to do it again and again.

The see saw is lots of fun too!

This is a playground at the neighborhood elementary school. They do not have baby swings so we just made the best of it, because the twins LOVE to swing.

Averie is still not walking, but she is soooooo close. She still has a good time outside playing, but it would be easier if she could walk.

My boys, walking side-by-side down the trail. Andrew kept up pretty well. He loves to be set free to run outside.

Our first injury....

2009-09-17T11:04:00.001-07:00

Well everyone, we had our first busted lip on Wednesday. Andrew's new favorite thing to do is run around outside on his own. There is a little slope at the end of our driveway that met Andrew's face yesterday because he got to running and couldn't control his speed. As you can see in the picture, his mouth started bleeding and it ran out on his clothes. He was pitiful. His lip was all swollen and I know it hurt bad. However, we continued our walk and he acted like nothing happened. Can you see the bruise on his forehead? That happened yesterday too. Poor guy, he had a rough day!

Bruce....

2009-09-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

Bruce and his friend, Greg Hough, went out to "chop" firewood a couple of weekends ago. They made a huge deal about how much work they did to bring home the wood so that we would all be warm this winter. Now, they did have THREE truck beds full of wood, so it looked impressive. However, after I had complemented him on his hard work, I found out the truth. The truth is the tree was already cut down and cut into big round pieces of log. They had a gas powered splitter out in the woods to "chop" the wood for them. They did not do any hard labor. They just fed the wood trough the splitter and the splitter made the big, nice pieces of firewood. BIG CHEATERS!!!

Averie....and her motor!

2009-09-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

I have decided that Averie uses her tongue for a motor. She can't move unless it is hanging out of her mouth. Lately she has is over to the side, and hooked on her top lip. She is a mess!

For those of you that don't know, I had to have an ovarian cyst removed on September 1st. I am doing great and recovering with no problems. However, Bruce's parents came up to help with the babies while I recovered. Now that I am feeling better we have been able to get out a little and show them Anchorage. This past Saturday morning we went to breakfast at Snow City Cafe. It's a famous breakfast place around here. Well, Averie was playing with her dad's hat while we were waiting for our food and this is what we ended up with. She put the hat on all by herself and her pride is showing in her big smile. I think she is the cutest thing ever!!

Andrew....

2009-09-14T21:13:00.001-07:00

For reasons that I am not sure about, Andrew has become attached to this pink wash cloth. A week or so ago, I picked it up to wash and put it in the laundry basket with the other clothes. Well, we were all upstairs doing something and I turned around and there he was sitting in the laundry basket with his pink rag. He had dug it out and climbed in the basket with it. He sat there for over half an hour with that rag. Now, I promise that I have tried to give him a yellow and a blue rag, but he only wants the pink one.

Bruce took Andrew to get his hair cut last week and this picture shows how he felt about the whole thing. Bruce called me from the hair place and said he had burst in to tears when he sat him in the chair. Andrew is not a daredevil at all. He is really skittish about trying new things. It takes him a while to warm up. Now, Averie, she is not scared of anything!

Glacier Boat Tour 2009

2009-08-28T22:06:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, August 22 our little family took quite an adventure. We took the train from Anchorage to Whittier, AK. In Whittier boarded a boat that took on a fifty mile round trip tour of Prince William Sound. For those of you that remember and for those of you that don't, Prince William Sound was the site of the Valdez oil spill back in 1989. Anyway, the crew served lunch as we traveled out and then we spent a couple of hours traveling up to two major glaciers. Since we took this trip last week and this week has been really busy, I can only remember that one of the glaciers was the Belliot Glacier. I can't remember the other one and I am going to blame that on "Mom Brain". After the boat tour we re-boarded the train to ride back to Anchorage. Although it was a long day, we had a wonderful time as a family. We have never had time to do stuff like this together and I am really enjoying spending time with just our family. I think that we will be occupied for a long time exploring the state of Alaska.

My Little Musician

2009-08-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

Andrew and Averie have a Drum that they play with all the time. However, lately, it has been Averie's favorite toy. She will sit for twenty minutes and play her drum. She stand up and holds the drum, she bounces her bottom up and down while she is playing the drum, it is just hilarious. Anyway, I took a couple of pictures of her today and thought I would share them.

Salmon Fishing...

2009-08-08T23:19:00.000-07:00

Bruce and Greg went fishing early this morning. They fished about an hour and a half and brought home 5 silver salmon. One of the fish that Bruce caught weighed about 20 pounds. They cleaned them and they are in our frig. They had a really good time and I am glad that Bruce is finally able to do some things that he likes to do, versus working all the time.

some videos

2009-08-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

First Hike in Alaska

2009-08-03T14:52:00.001-07:00

We went on our first hike in Alaska yesterday. We drove about ten miles out to the Eagle River Nature Center and hiked for about 2 miles. We have purchased hiking backpacks to carry the babies because strollers are not an option out there. The first picture is the view at the start of our hike.

Averie proved to be quite the hiker. She LOVED it!! She smiled and talked the entire way. She also jumped up and down in the backpack which was quite fun for me. I know these look like they would be heavy, but the pack itself just weighs 4 pounds. It really wasn't so bad. Oh, Averie also loved pulling my hair!!
When Andrew first got in his pack he was very nervous. After a while though, he was smiling and happy just like his sister.

We hiked out to this hollow tree, which proved to be a good place for taking pictures.
Our first family photo on a hike in Alaska. Aren't you all very proud of me for doing this?

Outdoors...

2009-07-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

The sun came out for about 20 minutes yesterday and so we took the babies out in the wagon. They love to ride in the wagon and it was nice to get some fresh air. This first picture is the view as we started down the street toward the trail. Pretty incredible, don't you think?

More Cake, More Cake, More Cake.....

2009-07-24T21:58:00.001-07:00

I made a yellow cake with chocolate icing yesterday and I wasn't sure if the babies would eat any of it. Boy was I wrong! They love cake. It's like they can smell it coming. Tonight after dinner we let them play for a little while then we got cake for everyone. Averie sat in my lap and ate the piece that I cut for her and Bruce was feeding Andrew a piece. After they both ate their own piece of cake, they crawled over to Bruce and demanded that he feed them his piece of cake. When all the cake was gone they started screaming for more. It is really funny!

Just playing around....

2009-07-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

We have stairs in our house. I really didn't want to buy a house that has stairs, but in Alaska, we had no choice. All houses have stairs in this town. Therefore, one of the first things we did was install baby gates. They work great. I can let the babies down so that they can crawl and walk around without me having to chase them. The gates make life much easier. They love to stand at the gates and it is funny because they look like they are in jail.

This is Averie being cute. Her outfit is new and her hair bow and her shoes make it the perfect ensemble. She knows when she it cute. She has major diva attitude!!

We love pizza!!

2009-07-24T21:47:00.001-07:00

Averie and Andrew eat only table food now. They will pretty much eat ANYTHING!!! For twins that had severe eating problems, you could not tell it now. Yesterday I made the pizza for supper. They LOVED it! They really love it when I make them food that they can feed themselves.

Proud of our Dad!

2009-07-24T21:41:00.001-07:00

The gift given to all graduating surgery residents is an academic chair. The surgery department at Erlanger mailed the chairs out after graduation. Anyway, Bruce's chair arrived a couple of days ago. For those of you that don't know, Bruce completed a six year surgery residency last month. It was a grueling six years of work. Most of the time he worked over 100 hours a week. The babies have spent more time with their Dad in the last two months then they did the entire first year of their lives. We have really enjoyed him being with us. I think that this picture is very sweet and I hope you like it. Just ignore the fact that his degree is from the University of Tennessee.

More wildlife......

2009-07-21T22:32:00.001-07:00

These are some pictures of my wild monkeys. These were taken before our household goods were delivered. We were living with the bare minimum. However, the babies loved having the space to run around. They have adjusted beautifully to there new home.

Moments...

2009-07-21T22:27:00.000-07:00

During our trip we would often stop at a rest area to feed Andrew and Averie their snack. I would always feed Andrew and Bruce was in charge of feeding Averie. This particular day we were in Northern Idaho about to cross into Washington State. Averie was not able to settle down in the car because she wanted to drive (see earlier post). Therefore, Bruce took her out onto the grass to feed her. I just thought that this picture was sweet so I thought I would blog about it. Also, at this rest stop, there were tons on chipmunks. There were some kids feeding them bread and Andrew just laughed and carried on about the chipmunks. Very Cute!!!

Wildlife along the way....

2009-07-21T22:20:00.001-07:00

As we drove through Canada we saw some wildlife that I thought I would share with you all. This is a heard of buffalo that was right along side the road in the Yukon Territory. We saw some that were traveling alone, but this was a really big group.

In northern British Columbia there is an area called Muncho Lake. The road in this area was particularly rough. Lots of parts that were not paved and it was very windy. The road also seemed to be really narrow. These are a couple of Big Horned Sheep that we literally almost ran into. I took this photo from my seat in the car. They were really close.
We saw several black bears, antelope, mule deer, and moose. We would still be traveling if we had stopped to try and photograph all of the animals that we saw. It was pretty cool!

Mt. Rushmore

2009-07-20T15:57:00.001-07:00

The babies were asleep when we drove up to Mt. Rushmore. Threrefore, we did not get out and go to the museum. It was really cool though. We snapped a few photos then went on our way.

North to Alaska....

2009-07-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

I did not take that many pictures on our trip. It was a very hard trip, but I am glad that we chose to drive. These first two pictures are in some hotel, somewhere. The babies did really great on the trip. They slept relatively well and ate good the entire trip.

At some point, Jazz has decided that she likes Averie. I randomly turned around in the car and found her up in the carseat with Averie. She sat there most of the trip. Averie would just crack up laughing when Jazz liked her and she was very gentle with Jazz. She would pat her on the back and love on her. It was VERY cute!

To North Alabama we go.....

2009-07-20T15:35:00.001-07:00

We spent two nights at my sister's house in Town Creek, AL before we started toward Alaska. This first picture is of Averie driving! No, seriously, we stopped to feed them some yogurt and she decided that she would rather put on a show than eat. It was pretty cute.

Jill and Jeremiah fed the babies for me the morning that we left. I was packing and helping Bruce load the car so it worked out great.

Check out Jeremiah feeding Averie. It was really sweet and he did a great job!

Time spent in Mobile.....

2009-07-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

Me and the babies spent nine days in Mobile while Bruce finished up with work. We swam a couple of times with Lori and Maddox, but we mostly played on the floor at Nanny's house. Sorry this picture is sideways. Just turn your head!

Quick visit with the Dunn's

2009-07-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

While we resided in Chattanooga, the deal has always been that whenever Jen, Mike and the fam were in Atlanta that we would meet either in Chattanooga while they were on their way to Mikes parents, or we would come to Jen's parents house. This time they were coming back from Kingsport, TN and we met up at McDonald's for a quick visit. I was sooooo excited to meet baby Emily and I wanted to see them before we headed off to Alaska.

It was bright in the restaurant so she could only open one eye. Haha!!

That is quite a lap full, don't you think.

Great friends and sweet babies!!!

Goodbye to Good Friends

2009-07-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from our goodbye party that was hosted by our Sunday School class from church. We have so many good friends and good memories from our time in Chattanooga that we were really sad to leave. However, the party was really fun. They had all kinds of baby pools and slip and slides for the kids to play and the food was really good. They gave us a Kodak Digital Frame that was loaded with pictures of all of them. I have it plugged in all the time so that I can remember how great our time with all of them was.

Andrew did NOT like swimming in the pool but he LOVES to swing. He was hilarious trying to get out of the pool. I have never seen him be scared of something like he was of that water.

Averie was not sure about the water to begin with, but she ended up loving to play in the water.

This is Averie sitting on the blanket with Judah.

Our good friend Ryan Beavers with Andrew.

This is a good view of the entire party. They really went all out to give us a memorable send-off.

Birthday Babies...

2009-05-19T13:02:00.001-07:00

The weekend was full of birthday fun. We had a great party for the babies and it was great to have our family here to help us celebrate. The first pictures are of Averie and Andrew in outfits that Aunt Mary Jo sent for their birthday. They are just adorable with smocked monkeys and watermelons. So CUTE!!

Check out Averie's fat legs. She is too cute.

These next couple of pictures are from the end of a very long Saturday. The babies have new carseats and Bruce decided he wanted to take them for a ride. Averie and Andrew really like facing forward and I am glad for that because it makes traveling much easier.

1st Birthday Slide Show

2009-05-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Averie's New Toy

2009-05-04T11:00:00.001-07:00

Bruce and I bought Averie the cutest toy for her birthday. Yes, I know it's not her birthday yet, but I just couldn't wait. It is a V-Tech toy that transitions from sitting to standing to walking. It has wheels and when she is ready she can pull up to it and take off walking. I took a couple of pictures of her playing with it this afternoon. She LOVES it!!

Dad Locked Out!

2009-05-04T10:56:00.001-07:00

Andrew's new favorite thing is to pull up on the door that leads out to the back porch. He really likes to do it when Jazz is outside waiting to be let back in. However, tonight, Bruce was outside grilling us up some dinner when Andrew decided to go over to the door. When Bruce tried to come in the door I was able to get some cute pictures of the two of them.

First Trip to the Park.....

2009-04-25T14:34:00.000-07:00

We took Andrew and Averie to the park today. They seemed to LOVE swinging and sliding. Sadly we did not get to stay long because it is really hot here today and the sun was so bright that I was afraid they would get burned. Yes, I know....SUN BLOCK!! Sometimes it is hard to think of everything. Anyway, it was still fun. Make sure to check out Averie's face in the picture below...priceless!!

Another Cute Outfit

2009-04-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

This is another outfit that my mom (Gram) made for Averie. Make sure you notice the ponytail I put in her hair. She really likes to have her hair done. It is almost as if her attitude becomes instantly more sassy.

Playing at home....

2009-04-25T14:28:00.001-07:00

I took these pictures last Wednesday. We were at home for most of that day. They were really happy babies and seemed to really enjoy playing together.

Milestones....

2009-04-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

This is Averie pulling up in her crib for the first time. She was very proud of herself.

These pictures are of Andrew holding his own bottle for the first time. Yes, I know most babies do that at a younger age, but my babies had MAJOR feeding issues. Him doing this kind of made me sad.

I want to feed myself!

2009-04-22T06:42:00.001-07:00

My mom was feeding Averie and she decided that she wanted to feed herself. It was HILARIOUS!!! She has become quite the eater. Don't worry, she still hates her bottle, but she loves her spoon.

When she decides she is finished, she gags. She is really dramatic. I have no idea where she gets that from....???

Cute Hair....

2009-04-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

Everyone has heard me talk about how crazy Averie's hair can be. Well, my mom did a great job of fixing her hair. Averie loved sitting in front of the mirror while Gram(my mom) fixed her hair. She was very proud of herself for being so cute.

Playing with Hailey andAustin

2009-04-22T06:30:00.001-07:00

We had a great time getting to visit with Jeff's twins, Hailey and Austin. They are 27 months old and quite the active pair.

Dinner at LuLu's

2009-04-22T06:26:00.001-07:00

Me and the babies drove down to Mobile, AL last week to visit my family. Johnna and her mom and sister were over in Gulf Shores the same week. Therefore, Lori and I drove over to the beach to have dinner with them at LuLu's. For those of you that are not familiar with that area, LuLu is Jimmy Buffet's sister and her restaurant is very popular in Gulf Shores. We had a great time together as it is always nice to visit with old friends.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-22T06:23:00.001-07:00

This is Averie and Andrew on Easter Sunday morning. Poor Averie was really sick. In fact, we took her to a pediatric emergicare place on the Saturday night prior to Easter. She had the croup. It was not fun. However, she still managed to put a smile on her face. I think she knew she was cute. Anyway, we had a nice, low-key Easter and I am happy to report that everyone is feeling much better now.

Latest pics.....

2009-04-07T13:53:00.001-07:00

These are just some pictures that have taken of the babies over the last several days. They are always up for a photo session.

This outfit that Andrew has on is really cute. It says "Mister Crabby" and the hat just adds the perfect finishing touch

Contortionist?

2009-04-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

The other day, Averie was playing in her bed and actually had been in there for about thirty minutes. Then I noticed that I didn't hear her talking and so I walked in to find her like this. She was completely out! She had just leaned over and fallen asleep. It was the cutest thing. What's even better though, is that I put her over on her tummy and she slept for about two hours.

Easter Babies

2009-03-28T18:54:00.001-07:00

We took the babies to get their Easter pictures made a couple of weeks ago. They did so great during the photo session. I think they are sooooo cute! However, I am sure that my opinion is biased??!! I think the one of Averie with her hands in the air and the two pictures of them standing at the park bench are my favorites!

Mommy's 10 Month Old Twins

2009-03-18T18:55:00.001-07:00

My sweet babies turned 10 months old today. I can't believe how fast the time is going by. I have enjoyed every second of the last 10 months. They are growing and changing every day. Andrew is crawling, pulling up, and cruising on the furniture and all the while with a mischievous look on his face. It's really fun to watch. Averie has the most hair of the two babies and it is very difficult to tame. Her hair is a source of laughs every day. She still doesn't really like her bottle, but she loves her baby food. On the bright side, she will be really easy to wean off of the bottle. She is sitting up really good and enjoying playing with her toys. They love Jazz(my poodle), but she does not love them. She runs when they reach for her. They love to laugh and talk to each other. It's really funny. They are just a joy to spend my days with. Now, I won't lie, having multiples is VERY challenging, but well worth it.

Mommy and Andrew, Daddy and Averie

2009-03-18T10:59:00.001-07:00

These are just a couple of the pictures that Bruce's mom took while she was at our house. I just thought they were cute.

Fancy Dress

2009-03-18T10:57:00.001-07:00

This is just a random picture of Averie that we took a couple of Sunday's ago. The reason we took this picture was to show off her fancy dress that my mom bought for her. Everyone at church thought she was so pretty in her "fancy dress".

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

Bruce's mom gave Averie this dress especially for St. Patricks Day. She was very cute in the dress and I think she knew she was cute.

Visit with Granny and Pop

2009-03-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

Bruce's parents stopped in for a visit last weekend. Here are a few pictures of our visit with them.

Tired and Stuck......

2009-03-07T17:30:00.001-08:00

Andrew is a mover and a shaker. When I lay him down for his nap he will crawl around for about a half hour before he finally falls asleep. I would say most of the time is never falls asleep and I just give up. However, he fall asleep this morning and this was his final resting position.

Bedtime Fun!

2009-03-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

Andrew thinks he a really big boy when he stands up in his bed. Not only is he pulling up in his bed, but he is cruising around in the bed as well. He was sooooo tired tonight that he was just silly. Everything was hilarious and so I thought I would snap a few pictures of him.

Averie is not pulling up in her bed yet, so we have to stand her up for her to participate. She thinks she is big when we stand her up. She was not in great mood tonight, but she mustered up a smile for the camera.

They sure are growing fast. I can't believe that they will 10 months old in 10 days!!

Pretty Day

2009-03-07T17:19:00.000-08:00

It was a glorious afternoon in Chattanooga, TN today. Bruce decided that he wanted to grill steaks for supper so while he was out there, we put the babies in their bouncy seats on the back porch. They loved it out there!! They just talked, played, and laughed the whole time. I am glad it is going to be warming up so that we can take them outside more often.

Mamma's Boy

2009-03-05T14:40:00.002-08:00

Andrew is the sweetest little boy I have ever met. Yes, I know that I am biased, but seriously, he hardly ever cries, and he is always smiling. When I say alway smiling, I really mean it. I thought I would share some of his precious smiles with you.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

2009-03-05T14:16:00.000-08:00

Averie's hair is going through the Jim Carey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective phase. Her hair is really growing and it is growing in all different directions. In that movie, Jim Carey has really funny hair. It's just the way that I have come to describe Averie's crazy hair.

Get Your Motor Running.....

2009-03-04T10:56:00.000-08:00

Andrew is so funny!! If he is sitting on his bottom and you call him to come, he slaps his hands around and smiles really big. It is almost as if he has to rev up his engine in order to get on his knees and crawl. It is really cute!!