It's Been A While

So, what's happening in the Irving household? Not much really. We're recovering from a week of illness for all of us. Last week was a blur and my house has paid dearly. I slept very little.

Avery Girl Irving is now 4 years old. FOUR. YEARS. OLD. I'm not really sure how this can be but it is true. She goes to Mother's Day Out once a week and loves it. Right now we are battling huge tonsils (hopefully a change in diet will result in no need for surgery) and a gross and infected tooth that will hopefully be coming out this week.

She tells me multiple times a day that she loves me. She's perpetually hungry. She loves My Little Pony, Frozen, Curious George and many other things. She continuously hounds her dad the second he walks in the door. Does he want to play in her room or brother's room? Does he want to play tag? Does he want to sit on the bench and watch her ride her bike? Does he want to play her Frozen game? She is a sweet big sister to David. She doesn't always listen. She's getting kind of sassy. She never wants to leave the house and likes to argue.

I love that girl.

Baby David is 13 months old. A toddler.

He's sweet and cuddly and getting to be pretty silly. Every morning we wake up before Avery and we go into the living room and until she wakes up I constantly chase after him to keep him from trying to get into her room. He looks at me and smiles, makes a run for it and laughs when I snatch him up. He is so excited when she comes out of her room each morning. He used to cry when we told him "no" and now he laughs. He loves light switches. He loves to be outside. He loves to ride on the rocking horse in his room. He still wakes up multiple times a night. He loves his mommy but is starting to really like his daddy. He gets so excited when David gets home. As soon as he hears the door he goes to it smiling. I finally cut off his baby mullet.

He likes to eat avacado and bananas. He likes to eat whatever you are eating. He likes to throw things. He likes to do things he's not supposed to all the while laughing...over and over. He has the sweetest little face. He likes to pull Avery's hair. He finds it quite funny. He's got his top 4 teeth and 3 bottom teeth, working on the 4th. He loves bath time. He's like a moth to the flame when he hears the water running.

He's the best.

They met Santa

David was thrilled.

I can't believe this year is coming to a close. I'm excited to see what the next year has in store for us.

Overwhelmed

With a title like "overwhelmed", one might assume that my responsibilities as a mom of 2 has got me stressed, tired...overwhelmed. That's not what I mean though. I am overwhelmed with how good I have it. I have a hard working husband, money to pay my bills, a home to live in and 2 precious children. I am blessed. Sometimes it overwhelms me. I have it so good. So very good.

I am loving being a mom to two kids. Avery has got to be the most precious girl to walk the earth. She can be ornery but she has a heart of gold. Twice recently she has surprised me with the sweetness of her heart. Once I went to Walmart with her and baby David and realized at the checkout that I had forgot my money. I was embarrassed and mad. In the car on the way home Avery offered me her money from her piggy bank. She also now asks me if I have my money when we go places :)
The other day I told her we were going to a birthday party and I hadn't got a gift yet. She said "Mom, we don't have a present!" She decided she was going to give one of her ponies to the little girl. She also wanted to give a little goat that she plays with in the tub because it was clean ha! I thought it was sweet.

She is the opposite of me in so many ways. Her personality is perfect. She is the best big sister. She watches out for her brother and she loves on him. Her face lights up every morning when she sees him. She races to go get him up from his nap. She loves that boy. She calls him brother, buddy and bup. It makes my heart so happy to see the two of them.

I've been very blessed with how easy the transition has been since having baby David. I know I have many years and countless scenarios to come in which I will feel overwhelmed but we have transitioned as a family almost seamlessly. There was no disruption. David fit right in. He belongs to us. Most likely it was the 3 year age gap that helped that out!

David's personality seems to be more laid back than Avery. He's working on his own schedule as far as crawling, pulling up and eating food. He's a mama's boy. Big time. He loves me and I like it :)
If I get him up from sleeping and Avery doesn't go get him with me, I'll bring him to her and his little legs just kick up a storm and he smiles so big. He loves to terrorize her when she plays. He's so precious.

I just can't get over my kids. I'll never be a perfect mom. I will do so many things wrong. I will do some things right. I never want them for a second to doubt that I don't/didn't love them fiercely. Because I do. It overwhelms me how much I love them. I never questioned whether I'd love my second child less than my first. Not once. I can honestly say that. Moms over time have managed to have more than one child and love the others just as much as the first. I knew it was possible and I was right. I love David with every ounce of my being. Every fiber of my body. Just as I do with Avery. Someday they will read this blog and so Avery and David: I love you to the moon and back and deeper than the sea. I love you more than you'll be able to comprehend, until you have your own sweet babies. It is my prayer that you never ever question it.

Some more of March's happenings

Avery got her hair chopped off.

 

 

Baby D wasn't happy but he looked cute in his Easter outfit!

Avery has started picking out her own clothes.

I think this picture pretty much sums up Avery's personality.

  

 

Pictures!

My little man is going to be 6 months old tomorrow. I think it's going to take me a couple of posts to get caught up on here. So here goes...

 

 

 

 

 

April 26, 2014 we had a late Easter party at a friends house. The huge yard was perfect for all the kids to hunt eggs. Avery had a lot of fun.

 

 

Valentine's Photos

I can't believe that Little David is already 3 months old. He is the sweetest little baby. We enjoy him so much. He is so happy. I am so thankful to have been blessed with two sweet kiddos. I hadn't gotten any professional pictures of David so I had a Valentine's mini session done. They turned out pretty cute. Avery has gotten to the age where she's hard to get to smile when you want her to.

Here's a few ;)

So Blessed!

Sometimes I can't believe how blessed we are.

I can't believe it's 2014. I'm starting this year as the mom of 2 kids. KIDS. That is still weird to say.

Avery is getting really sassy. Very sassy. This is one of those payback moments that is going to continue for a long time. I can confidently say I was a good kid/teenager. I think the only real downfall I had was talking back. I remember it. I'm paying for it now :) However, if a sassy mouth is the worst we get from her, that's fine by me! Let's pray it is!

Avery has started yelling "Never!!" when she's upset. She's become sneaky. "Avery, what do you have/what are you doing?" "Nothing" with a sly smile. When she's in trouble or upset she has begun to cry hysterically and runs to her room. She often goes and lays in her bed throughout the day. Tonight she put herself to bed early because she's so excited to go to a birthday party tomorrow. I'm wondering how she put it together that tomorrow will come faster if she goes to bed. Smart girl.

This girl loves her brother. LOOOOOOVES him. Today he was fussing a little bit and she said "Come here sweet boy" with her arms outstretched. She is so nurturing to him. It melts my heart. I know she's small and this won't last so I'm trying to soak it up.

This little girl is so many things that I am not and it makes me proud. I see things I struggle with come out naturally in her and it makes me smile. She's a beautiful little person and I can't wait to see what kind of woman she's going to grow up to be.

Oh and I saw Avery try to nurse her baby doll the other day. :0)

Baby David is such a sweet baby. He loves his mama. He's just now starting to hang out with his daddy and not fuss. He's a good sleeper and a good eater.

He smiles and coos. It's the best way to start the day. He's tolerant of Avery being in his face and talking to him in a voice so high pitched dogs would run. I know he'll love his big sister.

His little neck is getting stronger so he looks around a lot. He enjoys sitting on my lap and watching the world around him.

He's such a content baby. Avery was too.

Here's some pictures

Santa!

Riding the carousel after seeing Santa

David wasn't loving the carousel

Avery told Santa she wanted skates for Christmas. Then she thought she was going to get them right then. Told her she has to wait!