i've decided...

to post every time someone asks if my girls are twins. mainly because i think this is ridiculous and a little hysterical. if you are unfamiliar with the story, click here.

i have two new occurances:

1) Publix - one of the customers, a male, as we were both strolling out to the car. in his defense, they were dressed alike and sitting down. allen was with me and he finally got to hear it! he was just as appalled i have been!

2) Belk - the cashier. they were not dressed alike and only one was sitting down.

a reminder....

monkey see, monkey do

we have a lot of fun watching avery and addison interact with each other. riding in the car, allen or i will get the others attention so we can discreetly look in the back to see what one has the other doing. it's like a domino effect - avery starts, addison follows. addison starts, avery follows....and it's shortly followed by giggles! i know they aren't twins or anything (sorry, had to get that in)...but don't think that the fact that avery has 2 1/2 years on addison matters to her at all. addison tries new things and will dive head first into anything. she's a copycat and wants to be just like her big sister. here are a few action shots from the bathtub...avery starts, addison follows!

"Be imitators of God..." Eph 5:1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY!

today was avery's 4th birthday party!!! we had a fabulous time with all of our favorite friends...thank you all for making it so special! i can't say enough great things about head over heels gymnastics, and today was no exception. they do a phenomenal job with parties and everyone had a great time. from the youngest to the oldest, there was something for everybody....even me! i think this was avery's favorite party yet!! and, don't you just love her outfit (thanks jenn)!!! we love you avery!

they started the party with a long moon bounce thing where you jumped and jumped
all the way down to the other end

or you could roll down it...

or you could run down it....

then we moved on to the obstacle course, where avery got to show off her forward rolls...

here we are, rolling again....

then they got to swing from the rings

and bounce down the trampoline into the foam pit

it looked so fun, mommy had to have a turn!and zoom across the zipline. sorry for the blurry picture, it's the best
i could get with such motion

blowing out the candles on the my little pony cake

this is lily...if you don't know her, she's a good friend of ours.

happy birthday avery caroline!

couch bed parties

it's become sort of a tradition at our house. it doesn't happen weekly, maybe not even monthly...but when it happens, it's a night of all out crazy eat-what-you-want-stay-up-late-watch-movies-til-you-fall-asleep madness. welcome to the couch bed party.

many of you know that allen and i decided when we were looking at new furniture that we needed a couch bed. "wow, they must get a lot of guests," you might be thinking. no, we don't. in fact, only two people have slept on that bed ~ Poppy and CD. but without a guest room we thought that would be the best decision. avery agreed and thinks the couch should be a bed all the time. who knew we would enjoy it like we do?....well, she did. couch bed parties normally happen on a friday night, when there is nowhere to be the next morning. it's a family affair and, let me just say, it's become one of my favorite family happenings. avery gets to pick the movie and she normally fights to stay awake. she's a little more tenacious than mommy and daddy because we've both dozed off a time or 10. most recently she chose Pooh's Heffalump Movie and we laughed and giggled and recited (because we have all seen it a gazillion times). i can sound very british and avery thinks that is just grand. she knows every song by heart and we sing together...and wait for our favorite part....when Lumpy finds his (as avery says) voice. because every time is like watching for the first time, she's relieved to see that Roo is saved and Lumpy and the rest of the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood become friends and i watch her drift off to sleep. i hope she remembers these couch bed parties....we will!

getting ready!!

snuggled up

a new link

I've added a new link to my "worth your time" section, because simply put, it could quite possibly be the most "worth your time" spot on that blogroll. my friend gina told me about this story and i hesitated to read it because i can't read sad stories having to do with children. my mom and sister read the caringbridge sites religiously, keeping up with tons of very sick kids, and i just can't. it's not that i don't care, it's just difficult for me. i do follow tucker beams story because it's very personal to me, and we love their family. anyway...i went to the site yesterday and was captivated by this mothers journey. to my friends who are pregnant, if you have trouble reading these things too, my disclaimer for you is to wait. i cried the majority of last night, so much that i when i went in the living room allen sat straight up because he thought something was terribly wrong. BUT, you will be encouraged by her, her faith and their story. if you choose to read it, there is a link at the top left of her page allowing you to start from the beginning.

a day in the sun

all summer days in alabama are hot, but this day was really hot. we went to the park and stayed about 30 minutes. avery was even ready to go...addison didn't really want to get out of the car, so she was miserable from the start. addison is really walking now, more and more every day. i dare say that, by the end of the week, she'll be walking more than crawling. so, it's really fun to see her climbing on things that she can actually climb on and not get in trouble...(ie, the entertainment center). and it's really fun to see avery be a big sister and want to help her do big girl things. and, before you comment on it, in an effort to keep addisons hair out of her face, she has pigtails AND a hairbow. sometimes you just have to break the rules. so, here is our fun, short-lived, few minutes at the park.

happy fourth!

happy 4th of july! our church had an amazing night of worship and fireworks....and we had
a great time. there was tons of food and friends...and, in my opinion, the best fireworks show in birmingham! avery was so excited, she had been counting down the sleeps...and it, surprisingly, kept addisons attention too! i think addison liked the strawberry popsicle more than anything, though. we hope you and your family have an amazing weekend celebrating our
country and freedom!

yummy cotton candy

exhausted after a long night!